CK Hutchison’s $23bn ports sale produced the Hong Kong conglomerate’s best one-day gain in almost 10 years when it was announced in March, and was reminiscent of the swashbuckling transactions that made founder Li Ka-shing’s name. The ongoing negotiations with Beijing, which has come out in opposition to the sale, reflect a more prosaic reality.
As initially presented, the sale of CK’s ports outside China to a group including BlackRock would net $19bn in proceeds — as much as again as its undisturbed market capitalisation. In return, it would offload a unit that last year made up 9 per cent of revenue. When the news first broke CK shares jumped 22 per cent, their third-best day ever, just behind the stir caused by an internal reorganisation in 2015 and a 1998 feng shui-like boost from a roaring market following the lunar new year break.
For the past two years, CK has been trading at less than half of book value and before this deal it was at a mere third — its lowest this century. A hefty conglomerate discount is one reason given its mix of retail, telecoms and infrastructure assets across 50 countries.