FACTBOX | Port operator CK Hutchison caught in between US-China trade spat
CK Hutchison said on Monday it was in talks with a consortium pursuing its $22.8 billion ports business to add a Chinese "major strategic investor" to the bid, after Beijing flagged a probe into the deal amid heightened Sino-US tension.
The Hong Kong-based conglomerate made the comment the day after exclusive talks for a deal - which includes two ports along the Panama Canal - ended with the consortium, led by US investment firm BlackRock and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family-run shipping company MSC.
The canal's strategic value in global trade and US President Donald Trump's call to end what he described as Chinese control over it has made the deal a flashpoint for US-China trade tension, with media reporting that Beijing was unhappy with the deal and was reviewing it for security and antitrust issues.
Owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing and founded and listed in Hong Kong, CK Hutchison has a global footprint with businesses in areas as varied as ports and telecommunications. Here is a look at its origins and current standing globally:
Origins
Li Ka-shing established Cheung Kong Industries in 1950 at the age of 21. The tycoon acquired a controlling stake in Hutchison Whampoa nearly three decades later.
Hutchison Whampoa traced its roots to a small dispensary firm in China's southern Guangzhou that was established in 1828 and a dock and repair yard operator founded on the Pearl River in 1863.
Li Ka-shing carried out a major reorganisation of the business in 2015 by merging his two flagship companies, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong. This created CK Hutchison, one of Asia's largest conglomerates with a global presence.
Global standing
CK Hutchison has interests in every continent and operates in more than 50 countries, employing over 300,000 people as of June last year. About half its operating earnings come from its telecoms and infrastructure operations, with three-quarters derived from countries and territories outside mainland China.
Infrastructure
The group's infrastructure operations are anchored by CK Infrastructure and contributed just under a quarter of its operating profit in 2024, making this segment the second-largest profit earner.
CK Infrastructure manages assets across energy, transport, water infrastructure, waste management and other related businesses across the world. Its interests include UK Power Networks, Northern Gas Networks and Canadian Power.
It is the largest foreign infrastructure investor in Australia, and also invests in toll roads and bridges in China, and infrastructure materials in Hong Kong.
CKI holds the largest stake in Power Assets Holdings which supplies electricity and gas to millions of consumers across continents.
Ports and related services
The group's sprawling maritime empire extends across 24 countries, with interests in 53 ports and 295 berths. These include container terminals in five of the world's 10 busiest ports.
CK Hutchison's busiest ports include Shenzhen's deep water Yantian port, Mingdong and Pudong terminals in Shanghai, Hong Kong's Kwai Tsing Port, container terminals in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, and Westports Malaysia.
The network of ports and terminals is at the centre of increasing geopolitical sensitivity surrounding critical trade infrastructure.
The preliminary deal with the BlackRock-led group included the sale of 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries. CK Hutchison, meanwhile, would maintain stakes in three of the world's 10 busiest container ports.
Ahead of the deal, the ports business contributed around 15 per cent of the conglomerate's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA).
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Christopher Cushing)
