Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, has agreed to sell his Hutchison Telecommunications fixed-line phone business for HK$14.5bn ($1.86bn), in the latest divestment of assets by an Asian tycoon family.
I Squared Capital, a US-based infrastructure-focused private equity firm, will acquire Hutchison Global Communications, which runs an extensive fibre-optic network that connects to over 14,000 buildings. It is also a major provider of WiFi services to Hong Kong.
The firm beat out competition for the unit, a subsidiary of publicly traded Hutchison Telecommunications HK, from other private equity suitors, including a consortium consisting of TPG Capital and South Korean billionaire Michael Kim’s MBK Partners, people following the auction closely said.