HK Stock Market Move | CKH Holdings (00001) surged nearly 24% in early trading and plans to sell an 80% stake in Hutchison Ports to the Blackstone Group and a 90% stake in Panama Ports.

CKH HOLDINGS (00001) rose nearly 24% in the morning session, and as of the time of writing, it had risen by 21.73% to HK$47.05, with a trading volume of HK$12.08 billion. On the news front, CKH HOLDINGS announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement on the basic terms of a transaction with the BlackRock consortium. CKH HOLDINGS plans to sell all of its holdings in Hutchison Port Holdings (HPHS) and Hutchison Port Holdings Group (HPGHL) to the consortium, together controlling 80% of the global equity of Hutchison Port Holdings Group. The total enterprise value of this overall sale is $22.8 billion, and it is expected to bring in over $19 billion in cash proceeds for the group. As a key part of the transaction, CKH HOLDINGS will also sell 90% of its stake in Panama Ports Company (PPC) to the BlackRock consortium. A recent research report by J.P. Morgan pointed out that the contribution of the Panama Ports business to CKH HOLDINGS is minimal, with the EBITDA of the region in the first half of 2024 being less than 1% of the group's total value, and accounting for only 3.9% of throughput in the port business sector.