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Walter Hurtado / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Containers and cranes at the Port of Balboa at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal in Panama City, Panama.The ports surrounding the Panama Canal are about to come under American ownership.
American asset management giant BlackRock (BLK) and a group of investors have agreed to buy ports on both sides of the Panama Canal from owner CK Hutchinson Holdings for nearly $23 billion, the Hong Kong-based firm announced Tuesday.
BlackRock, its recently acquired Global Infrastructure Partners, and Terminal Investment Limited are purchasing a 90% stake in CK Hutchinson's Panama Ports Company, which owns and operates the Balboa and Cristobal ports in Panama.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the matter, BlackRock "briefed the Trump administration and Congress on the deal."
"This agreement is a powerful illustration of BlackRock and GIP's combined platform and our ability to deliver differentiated investments for clients," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said. "These world-class ports facilitate global growth."
The Trump administration views Chinese infrastructure around the American-built Panama Canal, which the U.S. turned over to Panama in 1999, as a threat to U.S. national security. During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said, "We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back.”
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