Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, left, and his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi are shown after a news conference in Hong Kong on Jan. 9, 2015.TYRONE SIU/Reuters
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is reorganizing his diversified conglomerate into two new listed companies.
Mr. Li's holding company Hutchison Whampoa, a diversified portfolio of companies in everything from ports, retail and utilities to energy companies including Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc., is to be taken over by his flagship property company Cheung Kong.
The newly created group would then be split into two new companies. The first, CKH Hutchison Holdings Ltd., would be the main holding company for all of Mr. Li's non-property assets, such as Husky.
The second company, Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd., would become the holding company for Mr. Li's extensive real estate portfolio, which includes office, shopping centres and residential development in Hong Kong and mainland China.
The proposed changes will have "no effect on our operations. It's business as usual," Husky spokesman Mel Duvall said in an e-mail message.
Mr. Li's total number of shares in Husky would remain the same, with CKH owning about 40 per cent of the company and the Li family trust about 29 per cent, he said.
A major goal of the restructuring is to address the holding-company discount shareholders have placed on the mix of assets, Cheung Kong said Friday.
The reorganization is subject to shareholder approval.
"This transaction is a watershed event in our group's history," Mr. Li, 86, said in a statement. "It is transformational from the point of view of shareholder value."
Besides Husky, Mr. Li's holdings include businesses in Britain, Continental Europe and Australia.
Companies controlled by Mr. Li own more than 70 per cent of Husky, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Husky owns significant oil and gas properties in Western Canada as well as refining and upgrading operations.
Bertrand Marotte