Judge approves contested sale of Long Beach container terminal

South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Company gained approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court Wednesday for the $78 million sale of its stake in a 385-acre container terminal in Long Beach.

The buyer was Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping, which already owns 46 percent of Total Terminal International, LLC, the port operator. The deal makes it the sole owner of the facility.

Hanjin, which filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Korea in August, will be relieved of $54 million in debt and other obligations because of the sale, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The transaction wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. It was contested by Hanjin’s creditors — container lessors and other service providers — who claimed the sale had been rushed and that they might be shortchanged.

But the New Jersey-based bankruptcy judge ruled that the creditors’ rights would be sufficiently protected in the sale. Hanjin’s lender, Wells Fargo Bank N.A., also supported the deal. [WSJ] — Cathaleen Chen