Canadian Pacific Kansas City\u00a0(CP.TO), opens new tab\u00a0said on Wednesday it and U.S.-based Lanco Group have sold the Panama Canal Railway Company to a unit of Denmark’s Maersk\u00a0(MAERSKb.CO), opens new tab, one of the world’s largest container shipping groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Canadian railway company did not disclose terms of the deal, but added the deal would help it focus on its core assets in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The acquisition “represents an attractive infrastructure investment in the region aligned to our core services of intermodal container movement,” said Keith Svendsen, CEO of Maersk’s unit APM Terminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded as a joint venture between units of Canadian Pacific and Lanco Group, the Panama Railway Company provides rail-based freight and passenger services along the canal. It posted a revenue of $77 million last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to take over the canal – built by the United States and returned to Panama in 1999 – over allegations of growing foreign presence, especially China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison\u00a0(0001.HK), opens new tab\u00a0had last month\u00a0agreed to sell\u00a0key ports near the Panama Canal to a group led by BlackRock\u00a0(BLK.N), opens new tab, which had eased some of the pressure from Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the deal, originally expected to be\u00a0signed this week, is now expected to be delayed over China’s criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n