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Li Ka-shing's CKI to buy German energy metering firm Ista

July 27, 2017 at 12:49 pm EDT

(Reuters) - A consortium led by Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure (>> CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd) said on Thursday it would buy German metering and energy management group Ista in a deal valued at up to 4.5 billion euros (4.01 billion pounds).

The deal could be Germany's second largest by a private equity firm if buyout groups Bain Capital and CinvenStada succeed in buying generic drugmaker Stada.

CKI - part of conglomerate CK Hutchison (>> CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd), controlled by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing - is acquiring Ista from private equity fund CVC.

CK Infrastructure, Cheung Kong Property Holdings (>> Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd) and Midco 5 have formed a joint venture to acquire the company, the firms said in statement filed with the Hong Kong exchange.

CVC confirmed the sale of its majority stake in Ista in a separate statement.

The deal is being closely watched by investors ahead of the planned sale of Ista's peer Techem by Australian infrastructure investor Macquarie in the autumn, sources have said.

Ista, which provides energy and water metering, posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 370 million euros in 2016 on sales of 850 million euros.

Buyout group CVC, which bought Ista in 2013 at a valuation of 3.1 billion euros, had hoped the company to be valued at 5 billion euros, people familiar with the matter said last month.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that CK Infrastructure was seen as the frontrunner to buy the German firm.

CKI has a market capitalisation of HK$190 billion ($24 billion) and is invested in electricity generation and distribution, gas distribution, oil pipelines, water supply and wind power.

(Reporting by Anusha Ravindranath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Anil D'Silva)

Stocks treated in this article : CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd

Stocks mentioned in the article

Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
CK HUTCHISON HOLDINGS LIMITED	38.25 HKD	+0.13%	+6.99%	18.69B
CK INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED	44.8 HKD	+0.34%	+5.29%	14.37B
CK ASSET HOLDINGS LIMITED	33.4 HKD	+1.98%	+7.22%	14.69B

Li Ka-shing

Richest man in Asia and eleventh global fortune according to Forbes in 2011, Li Ka-shing is the boss of conglomerates Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong Holdings and Watson Group, the world leader in port management.

At 17 years old, Li Ka-shing left his studies to sell watches in the store of his uncle. Quickly he becomes the best seller and at the age of 19, he is hired by a company to sell various metal items. Seller the day, he also works the night to monitor the manufacturing process. This job allows him to control the operation of a factory and the product’s commercialization.

In 1947, Li Ka-shing borrows some money to his family and begin selling artificial flowers. He creates a factory for the production and hires the best salesmen. The notoriety of the firm increases and Li Ka-shing signs profitable contracts. In a few years,he becomes the biggest provider of artificial flowers in Asia.

In the sixties, the Cultural Revolution moves lot of people to leave the country and the real estate’ price drop sharply. Li Ka-shing is convinced that prices will go up so he decides to buy a lot of lands. In 1971, he creates the real estate company Cheung Kong.

In a few years, the businessman appears like “the strong man of the real estate” in Hong Kong. Front of the globalization, he begins to invest in ports.

In 1979, Li Ka-shing takes the control of Hutchison Whampoa Limited which he holds 22%. From that time on, starts a rapid expansion which allows HWL to establish in Rotterdam and Panama. The group becomes the first global port operator.

Since, Li Ka-shing has continued to increase investment in areas such as telephony. In 1999, he sold his 48% shares in Orange to the group Mannesman for nearly 15 billion dollars.
First investor in the 3G, he is the leader in this area in Europe.

He has also invested $ 120 million in the social network Facebook (he holds 0.8%).

In 2005 he bought the perfumery chain Marionnaud. He also holds the airline Air Canada.

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