Terminal Investment Limited Holding (TiL) — the jointly owned terminal investment subsidiary of Swiss shipping company MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and fund manager BlackRock — and the Hutchison Ports group have formally withdrawn from the procedure to authorize the purchase of 50% of Terminal Catalunya (Tercat), a company operating the Barcelona Europe South Terminal (BEST) container terminal in the port of Barcelona. The withdrawal of the application was recorded on August 3, 2026, with the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission, as stated in the official records of the community body, concluding the regulatory review process without the issuance of a definitive ruling.
The Competition department of the European Commission had initiated an in-depth investigation in December 2025 to examine the implications of the agreement on the market for container port services in the northeastern peninsula. The community executive expressed initial doubts about the possibility that the corporate concentration would lead to an increase in prices charged to shipping companies or a reduction in the quality of operational services at the Barcelona terminal. The preliminary investigation focused attention on the position that the BEST facility occupies as the main entry point for large draft vessels in the influence zone of Catalonia and its connections to the south of the European continent.
The concerns of the competition authorities of the European Union were also based on the possible effects on shipping companies from competition. Brussels indicated in its assessments that TiL’s entry into the shared management of Tercat could result in preferential treatment for vessels of MSC’s own fleet, both in the assignment of berths and times at the dock, as well as in the agreed rates. The Commission additionally analyzed the limited operational transshipment options available for the rest of the shipping lines in the Catalan port, given that the port of Barcelona has only two terminals prepared for transoceanic container traffic: the BEST terminal itself, operated by Hutchison Ports, and the TCB terminal, managed by APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the A.P. Moller – Maersk shipping group.
The transaction between the parties was publicly announced in the summer of 2024 and received approval from the Port Authority of Barcelona in June 2025. This approval by the regulatory body of the Catalan facility included clauses aimed at preserving the status of BEST as a public and non-discriminatory terminal, as well as TiL’s commitment to provide minimum volumes of container traffic and guarantee the investments linked to the concession title. However, the European processing experienced a halt on January 8, 2026, when the European Commission suspended the 90-day legal resolution period due to the failure to deliver the requested technical documentation within the regulatory timeframe.
The suspension of administrative deadlines in Brussels was accompanied by the expiration of permits granted at the local level. The Port Authority of Barcelona had extended the validity of the initial authorization granted for the operation for an additional six-month period, which expired in June 2026 without the port authority proceeding to agree on a new extension pending the European ruling. The lack of response to the requirements from the community executive and the expiration of the time limits set by the port management have led to the agreement signed between TiL and Hutchison Ports to withdraw the notification.
The failed acquisition of 50% of Tercat was framed within a global trend characterized by the taking of stakes by large shipping companies in the ownership of container terminals to ensure the integration of their operational chains. MSC and Hutchison Ports maintain previous alliances in the management of port infrastructures in other international traffic points, including the joint operation of a container terminal at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, or the agreement signed in 2022 for the development of a terminal in the Egyptian port of Dekheila. In parallel, TiL and BlackRock presented an offer in 2025 aimed at acquiring Hutchison Ports’ international portfolio of port terminals located outside Chinese territory, a corporate process that has not recorded public variations in recent months.
With the formal withdrawal communicated to the European Commission’s registry, the file on the BEST terminal has been closed under the status of procedure canceled by withdrawal of the applicant. The container terminal in the southern area of the port of Barcelona will maintain its original corporate structure without the incorporation of TiL or BlackRock into its shareholding, continuing operations under the direct management of the operator group Hutchison Ports according to the terms of the current port concession.