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By Elida Moreno and Marianna Parraga
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -The Panama Maritime Authority, which oversees shipping and port infrastructure in the country, will request all legal and financial documents from a key transaction between CK Hutchison and a consortium backed by BlackRock , minister to presidency Juan Carlos Orillac said on Friday.
U.S. BlackRock announced this week that a group of investors, including Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment, agreed to buy most of the port business of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison, including its 90% stake in Panama Ports Company, which operates the Balboa and Cristobal terminals under a 25-year concession.
The maritime authority is expected to analyze the transaction, which gives control of the two ports strategically located near the Panama Canal to the BlackRock-backed group, at the cabinet's request, to ensure that public interest in the terminals will be protected, Orillac added in a release.
A separate audit of CK Hutchison's port concession, which was renewed in 2021, is yet to be completed by Panama's Comptroller General office.
The CK Hutchison-BlackRock broad deal involves the Hong-Kong firm's 80% stake in Hutchison Ports with an equity value of $14.21 billion. However, the conglomerate will receive more than $19 billion following repayment of some shareholder loans.
Some U.S. lawmakers have said that CK Hutchison's control of the Panama ports represents a security risk that might jeopardize the Panama Canal's operations, backing up President Donald Trump's threat on taking over the waterway, which was returned by the U.S. to Panama in 1999 under a neutrality treaty.
The ports are not part of the canal nor needed for vessels to pass through the interoceanic way, which is mostly used by ships departing from or heading to the U.S. The Panama-owned canal is operated by an autonomous entity, while Panama's Maritime Authority oversees the ports and Panama's vessel registry.
"My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it," Trump told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, following the deal.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Trump was "once again lying" in a social media post on Wednesday. "The Panama Canal is not in the process of being reclaimed ... the Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!"
The head of Panama's business chamber Consejo Empresarial Logistico, Daniel Isaza, said the CK Hutchison-BlackRock deal might encourage the expansion of port infrastructure in Panama.
"The administration of the Balboa port opposed the construction of other ports in the Pacific and introduced multiple lawsuits that halted the construction of the Corozal port," he said. "A new administration capable of making new investments to increase port offer is positive for the country."
(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Marianna ParragaEditing by Marguerita Choy)
