Comment / M&A radar: Port mergers whet the appetite for further deals

China’s bubbling M&A activity in the port market took another step recently when Cosco Shipping Ports bought a 34.99% equity stake in Tianjin Container Terminal (TCT) – this is simply the latest move in the ongoing merger of terminal capacity in the north-east Chinese port.

It is the latest result in a plan that was hatched around a year ago in which the three owners – Cosco, Tianjin Port Holdings and China Merchants – of container terminal interests in Tianjin, the gateway ...