Li Ka-shing, senior advisor of CK Hutchison and CK Asset.
Zhang Wei/China News Service/Visual China Group via Getty Images
CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI), part of the global business empire of Hong Kong’s wealthiest person Li Ka-shing, made its debut on the London stock exchange on Monday in a secondary listing that did not raise new funds.
Shares of the infrastructure and energy company traded at £5.64 on the London bourse as of 11 a.m. local time Monday, a 0.14% discount to its Hong Kong-listed shares which closed at HK$56.55 the same day.
CKI is the first foreign company to take advantage of the U.K.’s biggest listing rule overhaul in three decades, which aims to revive its sluggish capital markets and increase competitiveness against U.S. stock exchanges. The reform, which came into force in late July, includes a new category to draw non-U.K. incorporated companies that already have a primary listing overseas.
Victor Li, chairman of CK Hutchison, the parent company of CK Infrastructure, said in an analysts meeting on Friday that he has no plans to proceed with a U.K. secondary listing for other companies under the CK Group. Victor, who is also chairman of Hong Kong property developer CK Asset, is the eldest son of Li Ka-shing; CK Hutchison and CK Asset are the flagship companies of CK Group.
In a statement the same day, CKI said the secondary listing would “benefit its geographically diverse shareholder base” and “provide a greater market for trading in the shares.” The company first flagged in July the possibility of a secondary listing on an overseas stock exchange without any fundraising.
Victor Li, chairman of CK Hutchison, the parent company of CK Infrastructure.
Bobby Yip/Bloomberg
CKI, which owns energy and water utilities around the world, reported a 1.7% increase in net profit to HK$4.3 billion ($553 million) in the first half of 2024, with a 2.3% drop in revenue to HK$19.1 billion. Nearly half of its turnover came from its U.K. business, which include UK Power Networks Holdings, the country’s largest electricity distributor in terms of customers, followed by Australia, continental Europe, Hong Kong, mainland China, Canada and New Zealand.
Sitting on a cash war chest of more than HK$9 billion, CKI has been capitalizing on bargains and reduced competition on the deals front amid higher inflation and interest rate hikes. The company said on Friday it had agreed to buy a wind farm portfolio in the U.K. for £350 million ($450 million) from British asset manager Aviva Investors.
The move was followed by its £90.8 million acquisition of UU Solar, a group of renewable power generation assets in the U.K., from British investment firm SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust in May. CKI in April also bought Phoenix Energy, Northern Ireland’s largest natural gas distribution network by coverage, for £757 million from U.K.-based NatWest Group Pension Fund and Australia-based Utilities Trust of Australia.
CKI is part of the far reaching empire Li Ka-shing built that has interests in everything from ports, utilities and telecom to real estate and retail. Li, 96, handed the helm of his empire to Victor in May 2018, and continues to serve as senior advisor to his two flagship companies, CK Hutchison and CK Asset.