By Langi Chiang From South China Morning Post

Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) on Wednesday announced a plan to issue 80 million news shares to its controlling shareholder Hutchison Infrastructure Holdings to raise HK$4.6 billion.

It came hours after another announcement that the company and its parent firm Cheung Kong (Holdings) had agreed to acquire British rolling stock operator Eversholt Rail Group in a £1.2 billion (HK$14 billion) deal through a 50-50 joint venture.

In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CKI said Hutchison Infrastructure Holdings would sell 80 million existing shares, at the same price as in the new subscription of HK$58 apiece, through Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley to not less than six independent third parties before February 4.

The 80 million shares account for 3.279 per cent of CKI’s existing issued share capital and 3.175 per cent of the capital base enlarged by the subscription, which is priced 4.45 per cent below Tuesday’s close of HK$60.7 per share.

At the date of the announcement, Hutchison Infrastructure Holdings owns 78.155 per cent of CKI.

Li, the richest man in Asia, is restructuring his business empire by injecting non-property assets, including ports, telecommunications, retail, infrastructure and energy, into a newly formed company, CK Hutchison Holdings, which was incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

All property businesses will go to another Cayman Islands-incorporated new entity, Cheung Kong Property Holdings, and seek a separate listing in Hong Kong via introduction.

Those developments have spurred renewed talk that Li is divesting his assets in Hong Kong, an allegation he and his company have repeatedly denied.

Li Ka-shing
Often referred to as “Superman” in Hong Kong because of his business prowess, Li Ka-shing is the richest businessman in Asia, and chairs conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings, a property group. Li turned Cheung Kong Industries into a top property group, and Cheung Kong expanded to acquire Hutchison Whampoa in 1979 and Hongkong Electric in 1985. Li is a noted philanthropist and heads a charitable foundation that is a shareholder in Facebook.

IMAGE: Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing laughs after a briefing in Hong Kong. The billionaire’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure will issue new shares to raise HK$4.6 billion. Photo: Bloomberg

For more on this story go to: http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1688143/li-ka-shings-cheung-kong-infrastructure-issue-new-shares-raise

See also iNews Cayman related story published January 12 2015 “Li Ka-shing restructures empire, shifts HQ from Hong Kong to Cayman Islands” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/li-ka-shing-restructures-empire-shifts-hq-from-hong-kong-to-cayman-islands/