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Mergers & Acquisitions
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Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset offers to pay US$3.27 billion to buy Greene King, operator of 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in UK

  • Deal will see CK Asset expand further into the UK’s pub and brewing sector
  • Greene King operates 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the UK

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A neighbourhood pub in Wapping Lane, London. Photo: SCMP/Handout
Georgina Lee

CK Asset Holdings, the flagship of Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is paying £2.7 billion (US$3.27 billion) to buy a string of British pubs, doubling down on its UK investments in its biggest overseas bet in two years.

CK Asset is proposing to pay 850 pence (HK$80.8) per share to buy out the entire issued capital of Greene King, which operates 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the UK, after having bought 2.9 per cent stake through a wholly owned subsidiary, according to a Monday statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

CK Asset Group already owns a small portfolio of pubs in the UK, all of which are leased to Greene King.

The cash consideration presents an enterprise value multiple of 9.5 times Greene King’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, which was at £482 million for the 52-week period up to April 28, 2019.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing at a news conference announcing CK Hutchison Holdings company results in Hong Kong on March 22, 2017. Li retired from active business in May 2018, handing over the chairmanship of CK Asset and CK Hutchison to Victor Li, the elder of his two sons. Photo: REUTERS
Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing at a news conference announcing CK Hutchison Holdings company results in Hong Kong on March 22, 2017. Li retired from active business in May 2018, handing over the chairmanship of CK Asset and CK Hutchison to Victor Li, the elder of his two sons. Photo: REUTERS

“The group is a long-term and strategic investor in stable, profitable and cash flow generating businesses that benefit from real estate backing. The company believes that the UK pub and brewing sector shares these characteristics,” CK Asset said.

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