[NEW YORK] China has told state-owned firms to hold off on any new collaboration with businesses linked to Li Ka-shing and his family, according to people familiar with the matter, after the Hong Kong billionaire irked Beijing with his plan to sell two Panama ports to a global consortium.
The directive was issued to state-owned enterprises last week at the behest of senior officials, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. Existing tie-ups are not affected, they added.
Under the directive, state enterprises would not immediately get approval for business activities linked to the tycoon. The regulators are also reviewing what investments the family has in China and abroad in a bid to better understand the breadth of their business dealings, the people said.
The order to pause new dealings does not necessarily mean Beijing will bar state firms from working with businesses linked to Li. But it does ratchet up pressure on the 96-year-old billionaire after CK Hutchison’s deal with a BlackRock-led consortium to sell ports in Panama and elsewhere put his conglomerate’s flagship entity in the crosshairs of US-China tensions.
CK Hutchison’s shares erased most of the early gains after the news, and closed the day 0.9 per cent higher in Hong Kong. CK Asset ended the day 1.4 per cent lower, even as investors watch for developments on Apr 2, the date the parties plan to sign the sale agreement.
The ports sale, which is expected to net CK Hutchison more than US$19 billion in cash proceeds, triggered scrutiny in Beijing after US President Donald Trump hailed it as the US reclaiming the strategic waterway from Chinese influence, though the Panama ports are just two out of 43 facilities being divested globally.
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CK Hutchison Holdings, CK Asset Holdings, Horizons Ventures and Pacific Century Group did not respond to requests for comment. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, an agency overseeing Chinese state companies, and the Ministry of Commerce also did not respond.
At a regularly scheduled briefing on Thursday (Mar 27), a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China opposes strong-arm tactics for economic gains when asked about the deal.
“I would like to emphasise that China has always firmly opposed the use of economic coercion and bullying to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of other countries,” MOFA’s Guo Jiakun said in response to a question.
China is also looking into the sale for potential national security and antitrust violations, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Yet it’s uncertain how much leverage Beijing has, given that Chinese and Hong Kong ports are not included in the transaction. The impact on CK Hutchison from a halt on new business with state-owned companies may also be limited.
“The potential for US$19 billion in cash from the port sale could outweigh the risk of setbacks in its Hong Kong and mainland China businesses,” said Denise Wong, a Bloomberg Intelligence infrastructure analyst.
The Cayman Islands-registered conglomerate makes just 12 per cent of its revenue from Hong Kong and mainland China. The bulk of its operations span Europe – particularly the UK – North America and Australia, in sectors covering retail, telecommunications, ports and utilities, with little exposure to Chinese state-owned firms.
Horizons Ventures, Li’s private investment arm, has also focused its projects overseas, with more than 80 per cent of the firms it invested in located in European countries, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to its website.
Nevertheless, CK Asset – the conglomerate’s property arm now headed by Li’s older son Victor – has one-fifth of its long-term rental investment property portfolio by area on the mainland, with China home to most of its land bank for property projects developed for sale.
Second son Richard’s company, Pacific Century Group, is also exposed to China. Its insurance arm, FWD Group Holdings, has stated its ambition to expand into mainland China in previous financial documents, which would likely require partnerships with Chinese companies.
Still, China’s order to pause new talks with Li Ka-shing-related companies came before Richard Li was invited to a high-profile summit in Beijing over the weekend, which suggested that the scion isn’t blacklisted by Beijing.
As for the Panama ports deal, work is continuing on finalising due diligence, tax, accounting and other transaction teams and the parties involved are still aiming to sign an agreement as planned by Apr 2, people familiar with the matter said. BLOOMBERG
