China Shipping Terminal Development (CSTD) has signed an agreement with CJKEC, the controlling shareholder of KEC Busan Container Terminal (KBCT), to acquire a 20% equity share in KBCT.

KBCT currently has five container berths and is capable of handling 14,000teu containerships, and handled 2.2m teu in 2014. After the transaction, CSTD will become the second largest shareholder in the terminal.

CSTD said the investment is an important step for its global expansion strategy and will facilitate the container shipping business to be merged by China Shipping and Cosco.

According to a merger plan announced on December 11, Cosco Pacific will acquire full equity of CSTD from China Shipping Group and China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) for RMB7.63bn ($1.17bn). In the meantime, it will sell its container leasing subsidiary Florens Container Holdings to CSCL for RMB7.78bn ($1.2bn).