Denmark’s Maersk buys Panama Canal Railway Company

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(Reuters) – Canadian Pacific Kansas City said on Wednesday it and U.S.-based Lanco Group have sold the Panama Canal Railway Company to a unit of Denmark’s Maersk , one of the world’s largest container shipping groups.

The Canadian railway company did not disclose terms of the deal, but added the deal would help it focus on its core assets in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The acquisition “represents an attractive infrastructure investment in the region aligned to our core services of intermodal container movement,” said Keith Svendsen, CEO of Maersk’s unit APM Terminals.

Founded as a joint venture between units of Canadian Pacific and Lanco Group, the Panama Railway Company provides rail-based freight and passenger services along the canal. It posted a revenue of $77 million last year.

The deal comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to take over the canal – built by the United States and returned to Panama in 1999 – over allegations of growing foreign presence, especially China.

Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison had last month agreed to sell key ports near the Panama Canal to a group led by BlackRock, which had eased some of the pressure from Trump.

However, the deal, originally expected to be signed this week, is now expected to be delayed over China’s criticism.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)