In a case of terminal superlatives, the world’s largest asset manager could back a bid by the world’s biggest container line to buy the busiest container terminal at the top U.S. East Coast port.
BlackRock, the New York-based investment manager, could partner with Mediterranean Shipping Co. to purchase Maher Terminals, which handles more than a third of all box traffic moving through the Port of New York-New Jersey, sources told FreightWaves.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently signed a 33-year lease extension through 2063 with Macquarie Group, the Australian investor that acquired a controlling interest in Maher from Deutsche Bank in 2016 through its Macquarie Asset Management unit. An agency spokesman referred questions to Macquarie, which also owns Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) in California.
Maher processed more than 3 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of New York’s total 8.7 million TEUs in 2024, making it the busiest terminal at the port complex.
GCT, one of the other four terminals in New York-New Jersey and about half the size of Maher, was sold to CMA CGM for $3 billion in 2023. An executive with knowledge of the prospective deal said that the lease extension spurred interest from prospective buyers, including private infrastructure fund managers. The executive added that the sale process is not yet underway and no timeline has been established.
Macquarie’s stake in Maher is through private infrastructure fund Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III, managed by Macquarie Asset Management. The sale of Maher and other investments coincides with the end of the fund’s term in 2030.
The Maher sale won’t affect Macquarie-owned LBCT, International Transportation Service in Long Beach, and TraPac at the Port of Los Angeles.
The Maher sale was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd of Germany (HLAG.DE), and terminal operators PSA International of Singapore and Dubai’s DP World are reportedly interested in Maher, the only New York terminal not controlled by ocean carriers.
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), with $11-$12 trillion under management, emerged as a factor in global maritime infrastructure in 2025 when it teamed with MSC’s Terminal Investment Limited to buy most of the terminals business of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison (0001.HK) for $23 billion. Beijing later blocked the deal which included terminals at the Panama Canal, demanding a controlling stake for state-owned carrier Cosco (1919.HK).
A BlackRock spokesman said the company had no comment on the Maher report, or the Hutchison deal.
Media-shy MSC is controlled by the Aponte family out of Geneva, led by founder and chairman Gianluigi Aponte. The octogenarian has been on a spending spree fueled by a reported $75 billion cash reserve, including recent orders for six new cruise ships worth $16 billion, as well as new and second-hand container vessels totaling 2 million TEUs. The company is also constructing a new container terminal at the Port of Baltimore.
FreightWaves has reached out to the companies in this article for comment.
This article was update Feb. 6 to clarify that a sale of Maher would start at $3 billion, and delete a reference to NYK’s ownership stake.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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