OAN Staff James Meyers
1:48 PM – Tuesday, March 4, 2025
A Hong Kong-based company has agreed to sell two terminals at either end of the Panama Canal to the U.S. asset management company BlackRock — which has been accused of securities fraud and conspiring with other investment firms to limit coal production and raise energy costs for consumers.
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“BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street formed a cartel to rig the coal market, artificially reduce the energy supply, and raise prices,” Texas Attorney General Paxton said in a November 27, 2024 press briefing. “Their conspiracy has harmed American energy production and hurt consumers. This is a stunning violation of State and federal law.”
CK Hutchinson Holdings, a Hong Kong-based logistics giant, announced plans for investors to buy an 80% stake in a business that controls ports in Panama for an equity value of $14.21 billion.
The deal announced on Tuesday calls for BlackRock and a group of investors to spend $22.8 billion to buy the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on either end of the canal from CK Hutchinson.
“These world-class ports facilitate global growth,” according to a statement from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. “Through our deep connectivity to organizations like Hutchison … and governments around the world, we are increasingly the first call for partners seeking patient, long-term capital. We are thrilled our clients can participate in this investment.”
President Donald Trump has increased pressure to curb China’s overwhelming influence and control over the Panama Canal.
“China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump asserted during his inaugural address. At a January press conference ahead of his inauguration, Trump would not rule out using either military force or economic coercion to take control of the canal once again.
However, CK Hutchison insisted that the deal was unrelated to Trump’s vow to “take back” the canal.
“I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports,” said co-managing director Frank Sixt.
Meanwhile, the company has been operating the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic entrances for more than two decades.
The sale does not involve any interest in Hutchinson Port Holdings Trust, which operates ports in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, as well as South China, or any other ports in mainland China — according to the company.
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