Friday, November 8, 2024

Hong Kong’s CK Infrastructure gets approval for secondary listing in London

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“The company believes that a listing in London … will benefit its geographically diverse shareholder base and will assist in building the company’s profile and provide a greater market for trading in the shares,” CK Infrastructure said in a statement.

The UK forms the company’s largest market, accounting for about 36 per cent of its earnings in 2023.

The company had flagged in mid-July it was exploring a secondary listing on an overseas stock exchange such as London.

Last month, Britain’s markets watchdog approved the biggest reform of the London Stock Exchange in three decades to attract more innovative companies by reducing red tape.

Earlier in the day, CK Infrastructure reported a 2 per cent rise in its half-yearly earnings and announced a deal to buy onshore wind farms in the UK, its third purchase of renewable energy assets in the UK this year.

A consortium led by CKI Infrastructure agreed to buy the portfolio of 32 operating onshore wind farms in England, Scotland and Wales from Aviva Investors for around £350 million (US$448.5 million), according to a statement on Tuesday morning. The transaction is expected to close in late September.

On April 24, CK Infrastructure formed a consortium to acquire Lionrai Investments No. 1, which owns 100 per cent of natural gas network company Phoenix Energy, from NatWest Group Pension Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia for £757 million. Phoenix Energy is one of three gas distribution network operators in Northern Ireland, with a network that covers nearly half of the local population.
Two weeks later in May, CKI bought UU Solar, which owns and operates 70 renewable power-generation assets in the UK, including solar farms, wind installations and a hydropower plant, for £90.8 million.

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