With Li Ka-shing out, his empire seen ripe for change of guards
Now that his 89-year-old father is stepping aside, incoming CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. Chairman Victor Li will face the challenge of reinvigorating a business empire that’s gotten long in the tooth.
With the average age pushing 73, the board of directors that the 53-year-old executive inherits will be the oldest on the Hang Seng Index -- even after Hong Kong’s richest man officially steps down in May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Affiliates CK Asset Holdings Ltd., CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. and Power Assets Holdings Ltd. aren’t far behind, with all of them ranking in the top 10 by that measure.
"They have the oldest management in Hong Kong among big companies," Francis Lun, chief executive officer at Geo Securities, said of the CK group, whose businesses span across more than 50 markets. "You need some new people with new ideas because otherwise, you would just concentrate in the old things."
In an age where technology companies are the dominant drivers of growth, the Lifamily’s empire may be stable but doesn’t exactly radiate cutting-edge vibes. The group’s main businesses include operating shipping ports to supplying water, drilling for oil and selling groceries. Its biggest earnings driver in recent years has been providing mobile-phone services in saturated European markets.
Read more: Things to know about Victor Li
"It’s an old-economy stock," said Alex Wong, Hong Kong-based director of asset management at Ample Capital Ltd. "They missed out on the global technology wave in the last decade. They already lagged behind a lot and it’s hard for them to catch up."
Shares of CK Hutchison, CK Asset, CK Infrastructure and Power Assets – the group’s four biggest companies by market value -- all fell in Hong Kong on Monday. The retirement was announced after the end of trading on Friday.
To be sure, patriarch Li Ka-shing has delved into tech by being an early backer of companies such as Facebook Inc., Spotify Ltd. and Airbnb Inc. but those investments were made through his Horizons Ventures venture-capital firm and aren’t part of the family business’s main operations.
When his iconic billionaire father announced his long-awaited retirement, Victor Li told reporters not to expect major changes any time soon. The younger Li also said there were no plans for internal restructuring. Representatives at CK didn’t respond to a request for comment during the weekend for this story.