COSCO Shipping Holdings has announced plans to invest CNY19.7 billion ($2.7 billion) to raise its stake in two major Chinese ports.
The company will spend CNY18.9 billion ($2.6 billion) to raise its equity in Shanghai International Port Group to 15.55 per cent from 0.62 per cent, and CNY779 million ($107 million) to purchase a 3.24 per cent stake in Guangzhou Port to increase its equity to 6.5 per cent.
COSCO Shipping Holdings will buy stakes from its parent company COSCO Shipping Group.
The acquisitions will help deepen COSCO Shipping Holdings’ strategic partnership with Shanghai International Port and Guangzhou Port and promote the two port operators to participate in the construction of digital shipping infrastructure, COSCO Shipping Holdings noted.
Just last week, the German government approved COSCO’s acquisition of a minority stake of 24..9 per cent in HHLA’s Container Terminal Tollerort GmbH (CTT).
The sale had been debated for months, as Germany’s Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, disclosed that he was inclined not to allow the deal, arguing the deal would give China a stake in critical German infrastructure.
The company has also announced an order for 12 methanol dual-fuel-powered container vessels with a capacity of 24,000 TEU at a price of about $239.9 million each, with deliveries scheduled from the third quarter of 2026 to the third quarter of 2028.
Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries and two joint venture shipyards of Cosco Shipping Holdings’ controller Cosco Shipping Group in Nantong and Dalian will build the ordered vessels.
COSCO Shipping Holdings achieved more than $13 billion in profit in the first three quarters of 2022.
Net profit, as reported by the Chinese shipping giant, came in at CNY97.2 billion ($13.6 billion) in the nine months ending 30 September.
