Could 2026 be the make-or-break year of CK Hutchison’s Panama ports deal?
What began as a strategic exit for a Hong Kong conglomerate has devolved into a high-stakes stand-off between Washington and Beijing
Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison’s US$22.8 billion global ports sale hung in the balance at the end of 2025, nearly 10 months after it was first announced, as a veteran political commentator said the most expensive terminal acquisition in history was unlikely to come to fruition amid geopolitical tensions.
What began as a strategic exit for billionaire Li Ka-shing’s conglomerate devolved into a high-stakes geopolitical stand-off between Washington and Beijing over the control of global trade arteries.
Professor Lau Siu-kai, consultant to the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official think tank, said he was sceptical about the future of the deal given the current geopolitical climate.
“If the US and China cannot reach a consensus on the sale of the port terminals, completing the sale will be difficult. Given the strategic value of the terminals to China, Beijing will not approve the sale if China’s interests are not protected,” he said.
“The US is unlikely to agree to China holding majority shares in the terminals, particularly those on the Panama Canal. I am not optimistic about the sale’s successful completion at this time.”
In March last year, CK Hutchison reached an in-principle agreement to sell an 80 per cent stake in its port assets to a Western consortium led by BlackRock and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL Group).
TiL Group is the terminal arm of the world’s largest container shipper, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).