China’s Cosco eyes veto rights in deal for Li Ka-shing’s ports

China’s biggest shipping company is set to join the global consortium that’s acquiring Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s overseas ports, and is requesting a powerful role in the group in order to secure Beijing’s blessing for the controversial deal, sources familiar with the matter said.

State-owned China Cosco Shipping is asking to have veto rights or equivalent powers in the entity taking over the 43 ports, including two strategically important ones along the Panama Canal, the sources said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. Cosco has argued such rights are necessary to block any decisions that are potentially harmful to China’s interests, the sources added.

Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings and the original buyer group, which includes BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners unit and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s Terminal Investment, have agreed that Cosco should have full informational access to the operation, the sources said. But talks are still ongoing as to the powers that Cosco will have in the consortium and no final decisions have been made, they said.

A 145-day period for exclusive talks between CK Hutchison and the consortium is likely to lapse on Jul 27, and details of Cosco’s role in the consortium could be settled by the end of September, some of them said.

Cosco did not respond to calls and a faxed request for comments. CK Hutchison and the Aponte family’s MSC Mediterranean Shipping, which controls Terminal Investment, did not respond to separate requests for comment. BlackRock declined to comment.

Cosco’s demands mark the latest twist for a deal that’s become a proxy for US-China rivalry, after US President Donald Trump painted the transaction as the return of Panama Canal to US influence. Chinese regulators have, for their part, vowed to investigate the transaction, and Li and his family have come under intense scrutiny and criticism.

The Hong Kong tycoon’s younger son Richard Li’s talks to expand his insurance business into mainland China have stalled after the ports deal upset Beijing, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. That followed another Bloomberg report in March that China told its state-owned firms to hold off on any new collaboration with businesses linked to the Li family.

The original structure of the buyer consortium was designed to give the Aponte family-controlled Terminal Investment ownership of all the ports except the two in Panama, whose control will go to the BlackRock unit. BLOOMBERG