(Reuters) – CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, agreed to sell much of its global $22.8 billion ports business that includes assets near the strategically important Panama Canal to a group led by BlackRock this month.
The canal’s strategic value in global trade and U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to end what he describes as Chinese control over it has made the deal a flashpoint for U.S.-China trade tensions, with media reports saying 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 spanning from ports to telecommunication. 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 more than 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.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The telecommunications business is the group’s most profitable segment and brought in a quarter of its operating profits in 2024.
Its CK Hutchison Group Telecom unit handles European operations, while Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka are under Hutchison Asia Telecommunications.
Italy and the UK are the top business contributors for the European unit, while Ireland and Sweden are the fastest growing markets. Three, its telecom brand, operates in eight countries including Ireland, Britain, Austria, and Sweden.
Hutch in Sri Lanka and Vietnamobile in Vietnam are the prominent Asia brands.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The group’s infrastructure operations are anchored by CK Infrastructure (CKI) and contributed just under a quarter of its operating profits in 2024, making this segment the second-largest profit earner.
CK Infrastructure manages a wide range of 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.
But the network of ports and terminals is at the centre of increasing geopolitical sensitivities surrounding critical trade infrastructure.
If the deal with the BlackRock-led group goes through, that consortium will secure control of 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries. CK Hutchison, meanwhile, will maintain stakes in three of the world’s top 10 busiest container ports.
RETAIL
The conglomerate is a major player in the global health and beauty landscape with an expansive footprint of nearly 17,000 stores across 30 markets worldwide. Retail contributed 20% to the group’s operating earnings in 2024.
AS Watson, which owes its lineage to the old Guangzhou dispensary, has a diverse portfolio spanning personal care, health and beauty products, food and fine wines, and consumer electronics and electrical appliances.
Its notable brands include health and beauty retailers Watsons, Rossmann, and Superdrug, as well as the Hong Kong-based supermarket chain PARKnSHOP.
FINANCE & INVESTMENTS, OTHERS
The finance and investment portfolio serves as a strategic complement to CK Hutchinson’s core operations, accounting for less than a fifth of its operating earnings.
It manages substantial cash reserves and liquid investments while overseeing a number of partially-owned enterprises spanning multiple sectors.
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Rushil Dutta in Bengaluru and Kate Mayberry)
