Port operator China Merchants Group is in talks to join a consortium seeking to buy dozens of CK Hutchison Holdings HKEX:1 ports, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
China Merchants is joining negotiations as a potential way to help state-owned firm China Cosco Shipping finance the deal, the report said.
According to the report, the consortium currently also includes US investment firm BlackRock NYSE:BLK's GIP fund and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment.
CK Hutchison did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while China Merchants Group could not be reached.
CK Hutchison said last month that it remained in talks with a consortium to sell the majority of its ports business.
The conglomerate, owned by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, has been caught up in a diplomatic to-and-fro since U.S. President Donald Trump objected to Chinese ownership of ports along the globally strategic Panama Canal.