Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison assures legal compliance in ports deal

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(Reuters) -Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison said late on Monday that its closely monitored ports deal would strictly adhere to all required compliance standards and would never be executed illegally.

“This transaction would never be carried out under any illegal or non-compliant circumstances,” the company said in a statement. 

The Hong Kong-based conglomerate, controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, agreed in March to sell the majority of its $22.8 billion global ports business, including assets along the strategically significant Panama Canal, to a consortium led by BlackRock.

The deal has since drawn global criticism, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who repeatedly expressed his desire to reclaim the Panama Canal and termed the deal a “reclaiming” of the waterway.

Chinese state media have also condemned the proposed sale, saying it betrays China’s interests. 

Earlier in March, a pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper intensified the criticism by publishing comments from local politicians and Chinese lawyers who urged CK Hutchison to reconsider the deal and support the decision by Chinese regulators to review the transaction.

CK Hutchison said it made the Monday statement due to continuous enquiries from shareholders and the media and it had originally planned to talk about the transaction at its annual shareholder meeting scheduled for May 22.

“Completion of the transaction will be conditional upon the satisfaction of conditions including legal and regulatory consents and approvals,” the company has said in the March filing when it announced the deal.

Shares of CK Hutchison fell 0.6% on Tuesday morning.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru & Clare Jim in Hong Kong; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Kate Mayberry)