Is Expeditors finally being prepared for takeover?
A poison pill dressed as a philosophy that…
Chinese carrier Cosco’s international port ambitions took another step forward when it recently completed its acquisition of minority stakes in two Hutchison terminals in the Thai container gateway of Laem Chabang.
In a deal announced in October last year – some five months before the combined BlackRock-TiL bid for Hutchison Port Holdings’ international portfolio was unveiled – Cosco has now completed the purchase of a 12.5% stake in Hutchison’s Thai Laemchabang Terminal (TLT) and a 30% stake in the Hutchison Laemchabang Terminal (HLT).
“This acquisition will enable the company to deepen business cooperation with global shipping companies and partners in Thailand and South-east Asia, expand logistics offerings, including terminal extension services, and provide customers with enhanced port logistics services,” said Cosco.
The two terminals are adjacent in a port that now accounts for some 80% of Thailand’s overall container throughput, and approximately 80% of the country’s total throughput. The two terminals will have a combined capacity of 6.7m teu after the current expansion programme is completed.
According to the Xeneta-owned eeSea liner database, total container throughput at Laem Chabang in 2024 was 7.13m teu, representing 53% utilisation of the port’s overall 13.4m teu capacity.
Meanwhile, in a separate development in Brazil, Cosco is reportedly preparing to make a bid for the upcoming Santos Terminal 10 tender.
According to Brazilian liner analyst Datamar, Cosco executives recently held meetings with local authorities to express the company’s interest in bidding for the Tecon10 project at Santos, which is currently subject to a legal challenge from APM Terminals.
Under Brazilian regulations, a terminal operator is barred from bidding for a new concession if it already holds a stake in a facility in the same port. According to this Loadstar Premium analysis, this effectively rules out APM Terminals and MSC’s Terminal Investment Ltd, as well as DPW World and CMA CGM, leaving giant Brazilian food producer JBS, which this year launched its own port operating subsidiary, as a local favourite.
However, according to Datamar, Cosco also currently holds “a residual stake of less than 5% in a minority fund of a Santos terminal, which, in theory, would exclude it from the bidding process”, but a holding from which it would presumably be relatively easy to exit.
Comment on this article