A state partnership would fundamentally alter the operating structure of two key Panama Canal ports and could trigger significant losses for Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings, which was facing mounting hurdles over a US$23 billion asset sale, experts said.
The Hong Kong-based conglomerate is in the grip of a legal and political firestorm in the Central American nation which threatens its control over the two politically sensitive ports at either end of the strategic…