Two major Panama Canal ports have been sold from their Hong Kong owner to a consortium including American multinational investment company BlackRock.
It comes after US President Donald Trump expressed a desire for America to “take back” the key shipping lane from alleged Chinese control.
Hong Kong-based logistics giant CK Hutchison Holdings announced plans to sell a majority stake in the business that controls Balboa and Cristobal ports – which sit at each end of the shipping lane.
The sale is of a 90% interest in Panama Ports Company, which is contracted to run the important ports until 2047.
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The Panamanian ports are being sold to a consortium including US financial behemoth BlackRock for nearly $23bn (£17.8bn).
It comes after President Donald Trump applied pressure to end what he says is China‘s influence and control over the important shipping lane through which most goods pass.
As part of wider comments, on taking control of other sovereign territories, Mr Trump threatened earlier this year to “take [the canal] back” having said, “China is running the Panama Canal”.
However, on Wednesday, CK Hutchinson Holdings insisted that the deal was “wholly unrelated to recent political news”.
The deal was made a month after a visit to Panama City by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and was welcomed by Trump on Tuesday night.
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“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Mr Trump told Congress.
“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports…
