Sources said on Wednesday that the government had approached Hutchison immediately after learning from its surprise announcement on March 4 that it was selling all its overseas port operations to a group led by the US firm.
The Hong Kong-based firm revealed that it was offloading its interest in 199 berths in 43 ports spread over 23 countries, including operations at each end of the Panama Canal, in a deal worth US$23 billion, with Hutchison set to receive US$19 billion in cash.
“Both sides have since been in contact, trying to look for a reasonable way out,” a government source said.
Other sources said the options were limited as pulling out of the sale was likely to be costly and carried serious political implications while pressing ahead with it would exact a toll on both the company and the country.
