U.S. Questions COSCO’s Takeover of Long Beach Terminal -Report

(Reuters) – A U.S. national security review has raised concerns about a takeover by China’s COSCO Shipping Holdings Co of a large container terminal in Long Beach, California, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The terminal is part of COSCO’s planned $6.3 billion deal to buy shipping firm Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) , the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

COSCO executives met with officials at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) this week and proposed to divest or carve out the Long Beach terminal to ease U.S. concerns about the deal, the report said.

A spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which oversees CFIUS reviews, did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment.

The planned acquisition of Orient Overseas Container Line, OOIL’s main subsidiary, is on track to be completed by the end of June, COSCO Vice Chairman Huang Xiaowen said earlier this month. (Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.

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