Nigerian Billionaire Buys Panama Canal Ports For $23 Billion After Acquiring UK Airport
Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman and chief executive officer of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, US, on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. BlackRock Inc. agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion, vaulting the world’s biggest money manager into the top ranks of investors that make long-term bets on energy, transportation and digital infrastructure. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hong Kong-based conglomerate has agreed to sell its shares in a subsidiary operating near the Panama Canal to a Nigerian consortium, including Global Infrastructure Partners, a subsidiary of BlackRock Inc.
Nigerian billionaire, Adebayo Ogunlesi’s firm, Global Infrastructure Partners, will operate the deal via collaboration with TIL.
The Nigerian deal with Hong Kong-based conglomerate
In a filing, CK Hutchison Holdings disclosed that it would sell all shares in the Hutchison Port Holdings and Hutchison Port Group Holdings to the Consortium in a deal estimated at almost $23 billion, including $5 billion in debt.
The deal will give the BlackRock consortium control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including Balboa and Cristobal in Panama and others in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan, and elsewhere.
About 70% of the sea traffic crossing the Panama Canal leaves or goes to the US ports.
Energy Planets reports that the US built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for means to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts.
The US government gave up control of the waterway to Panama on December 31, 1999, under an agreement signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
Adebayo Ogulesi has solidified his position as one of the world’s wealthiest persons, with a net worth of $1.7 billion on the Forbes billionaire list. The achievement secures Ogulesi’s spot as Nigeria’s fifth billionaire and boosts Africa’s growing list of high-net-worth persons.
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Forbes’ newest valuation confirms a shift eight months after Bloomberg reported his rise among African billionaires.
According to reports, Bloomberg estimated Ogunlesi’s net worth at $2.3 billion following a $12 billion deal with BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset management company.
The 72-year-old Nigerian is the Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a New York-based infrastructure investment company.
His current ranking places him among the world’s top 2,000 wealthiest persons, at 1,945 globally.
The rise in his wealth is closely tied to GIP’s billion-dollar deal with BlackRock, which was finalised in January this year.
The partnership, valued at $12,5 billion, will establish a leading multi-asset class infrastructure investment company.
The deal included a $3 billion cash component and the issuance of about 12 million shares of BlackRock common stock, collectively valued at $9.5 billion.
It brings together a combined clientele under Management (AUM) exceeding $150 billion.
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