After taking the top spot in global logistics from the Danish company Mærsk, the Italo-Swiss MSC Group – which, among others, controls TMC Cisalpina Tours, the Italian high-speed transport company Italo, and the cruise giant MSC, and is led by a former Mærsk CEO, the Dane Søren Toft – continues its expansion and is increasingly becoming a global, and even political, player in the world of transport and, naturally, logistics.
By joining the consortium formed by the U.S. investment funds BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partners through its subsidiary Terminal Investment, MSC is acquiring from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings 90% of Panama Ports Company – which manages the two Panamanian ports of Balboa and Cristobal located at the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the Canal – and 80% of Hutchison Ports, which operates 43 terminals in 23 countries, for a total estimated between 18 and 20 billion euros.
CK’s 41 ports go to MSC Group
CK Hutchison, the holding company of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is selling its 41 ports to MSC, while the two in Panama will be managed by U.S.-based BlackRock. The ports are expected to remain accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to all shipping lines, while CK Hutchison will retain ownership of its terminals in China and Hong Kong, which account for about 12% of the group’s total revenue.
