Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has terminated talks to lease the entire Gulf Coast Port of Galveston, Texas, for 75 years.

The news came when port director Steve Cernak told Galveston City Council's regular meeting: "Hutchison Port Holdings is out."

Earlier this year the port announced that Hutchison and the Carlyle Group were looking to make such a gargantuan deal, reported American Shipper, adding that Hutchison has since refused discuss the matter.

The Galveston County Daily News said 80 firms answered the port's initial request for proposals, and 17 agreed to enter into the confidentiality agreements required to start talks.

But the Daily News quoted an email from Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, the Port of Galveston's advisor, which said: "While there were many parties that expressed an initial interest in the assets, the HPH/Carlyle team was the only party that offered to relieve all of the port's debt, commit to a sizable capital expenditure and provide a mechanism to share in future growth."