Capital Economy, Business and Finance
When Trump returned to office promising to “take back” the Panama Canal, Wall Street sprang into action.
The result is a remarkable victory for the president: the investment giant BlackRock has agreed to buy two major ports on the waterway from their Hong-Kong based owner, CK Hutchison.
The $23 billion deal was overseen by Goldman Sachs, with BlackRock’s bid supported by the world’s biggest container shipping line.
There’s no evidence China runs the canal, as Trump alleges, and nor is CK Hutchison financially tied to the Chinese government.
But the US president, who was briefed on the deal by BlackRock, will be delighted.
So will CK Hutchison, which has dumped a political hot potato by selling its ports for an amount close to its entire market value.
Ironically this may help the group embed itself in the UK instead. A CK subsidiary is trying to buy Thames Water.
