In December 2017, a court in Guatemala decided to terminate the original concession agreement covering major port TCQ, which APM Terminals acquired three years ago. The TCQ acquisition has already cost millions of dollars due to old bribery case from 2012.
APM Terminals’ takeover of the TCQ port in Guatemala in 2015 has already resulted in expenses of USD millions, a port that was unable to launch operations in time, and widespread speculations at the Maersk group port operator.
But just a few weeks after the deal was signed, skeletons began to pour out of the closets.
In the spring of 2016, it emerged that the Spanish company, according to the local attorney general, had acquired the TCQ concession through bribing politicians and officials. APM Terminals apparently did not know anything about this, and the company did not find out about it when conducting its due diligence related to the deal with Spanish businessman Ángel Perez Maura, a central figure in the case.
