Port operator China Merchants Group is in talks to join a consortium seeking to buy dozens of CK Hutchison Holdings 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'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 US President Donald Trump objected to Chinese ownership of ports along the globally strategic Panama Canal.
(Reporting by Heera Hari in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)