The Panama Canal Railway to the Danes of Møller-Maersk
It is a US-Canada joint venture that is surrendering. A transaction that seems a slap in the face to Donald Trump, given his sights on both Panama and Greenland (which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark)
2' min read
2' min read
It is not the Panama Canal, but it is nevertheless a strategic infrastructure: the goods train railway that runs parallel to the canal itself. And now it has changed hands, sold by a US-owned company to Møller-Maersk, a shipping giant based in Denmark, a kingdom of which Greenland is also a part (albeit with extensive autonomy). Who knows whether Donald Trump took this as an affront: such a deal announced just as the US president was holding the world in suspense over the Liberation Day duty verdict. One would be forgiven for thinking of a belated April Fool's Day.
At the centre of the deal is the Panama Canal Railway Company, which controls a 76 km railway line for freight transport, connecting the ports at either end of the canal: precisely those ports - Balboa on the Pacific Ocean and Cristobal on the Atlantic - that Trump would like to keep out of China's sphere of influence. Today they are controlled by Hong Kong-listed CK Hutchison Holdings, which is negotiating the sale to a consortium led by BlackRock - the world's largest investment company, with headquarters in New York - and Maersk's main competitor: the Swiss-based MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) of the Aponte family. Beijing is trying to pull the brakes and has urged Hutchison to 'think twice' before concluding the transaction.
Selling the Panama Railway, for an unspecified sum, are Lanco Group and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. The former is a US group, just as it was originally a US group that carried out the work: work was started in 1998 by a joint venture between Kansas City Southern Railroad and Mi-Jack Products (part of the Lanco Group). Kansas City Southern in 2023 was taken over by Canadian Pacific.
The railway now passes to APM Terminals, of the Møller-Maersk Group. The Panama Canal Railway Company ($77 million turnover and $36 million Ebitda in 2024) stands out 'for its operational excellence', commented APM's CEO Keith Svendsen, emphasising that the deal is 'a significant opportunity to offer a wider range of services' to customers in shipping.
