Hong Kong tycoon to buy Northumbrian Water for $3.9 billion

Through a consortium led by his company Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (CKI), Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-shing has announced plans to acquire U.K. water utility Northumbrian Water in a deal reportedly valued at approximately ?2.41 billion (about $3.9 billion U.S.). At the same time, to forestall any potential antitrust-related inquiry, CKI sold Cambridge Water Plc to HSBC Holdings Plc for approximately ?74 million. Looking for infrastructure assets in more stable developed nations, Li has been acquiring water, power, and transportation assets in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, spending a reported ?8.4 billion over the past year. “We like to see good regular growth,” Kam Hing Lam, managing director at CKI, told reporters in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported on August 2. “In richer countries, there are a lot of these types of investment opportunities for us. In other countries, investment projects may not satisfy our criteria for stability.”