Li Ka-shing Escapes Trump’s Glare With $19 Billion Port Deal

After a lifetime of dealmaking, 96-year-old Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing may have just pulled off one of his boldest transactions yet. Under pressure from the Trump administration over two ports at the Panama canal controlled by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., Li’s company announced a plan to sell off the bulk of global ports business to a consortium led by BlackRock Inc. In an earlier statement, a spokesman for the group declined to comment beyond the public announcement, which says the transaction “is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.” Before the deal was made public, CK Hutchison’s market capitalization was equivalent to the size of the sale at about $19 billion. “Some investors may consider that this deal could help reduce political risks and release value for the group.” Li, who began diversifying his business empire outside of China since the late 1980s when the country was enshrouded in political uncertainty, has over the next decades grown CK Hutchison into a conglomerate spanning retail, telecommunications, infrastructure and ports. The sale “greatly exceeds our expectations.” The previous valuation for CK Hutchison’s ports business was only $10.5 billion, according to his estimates.