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Industry | Conglomerate |
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Founded | 1863 |
Founder | John Duflon Hutchison |
Defunct | 3 June 2015 |
Fate | Merged with Cheung Kong Holdings |
Successor | CK Hutchison Holdings |
Headquarters | Central, Hong Kong |
Products | Ports and related services; property and hotels; retail; energy; infrastructure; telecommunications, finance & investment |
Revenue | US$54.035 billion (2014) |
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Number of employees | 253,983 (2011) |
Website | www |
Hutchison Whampoa | |||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 和記黃埔 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 和记黄埔 | ||||||||||
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Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a diverse array of holdings which included the world's biggest port,and telecommunication operations in 14 countries that were run under the 3 brand. Its businesses also included retail,property development,and infrastructure.
In 2015,the company merged with Cheung Kong Group as part of a major reorganisation of the group's businesses. The combined business was renamed CK Hutchison Holdings.
Hutchison Whampoa originated as two separate companies,both founded in the 19th century. Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was formed in 1863 by John Couper,as a port management company. The other part was founded as Hutchison International,a wholesale trading company and importer of consumer products,in 1877 by John Duflon Hutchison. [1] [2]
In the 1965,Hutchison International under the leadership of Sir Douglas Clague gained a controlling interest of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock. He pursued an aggressive path of diversification. He acquired A.S. Watson,Davie,Boag and Co. Ltd.,Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd.,and China Provident Co. Ltd. A decade later,however,the conglomerate reported losses of HK$130 million and became unable to service its growing debt. [3] [4]
In 1975,Douglas Clague lost control of Hutchison Whampoa due to disastrous speculation on foreign currency and stock markets. HSBC refused to bail out the company. Though it was later taken over by the bank. HSBC took a 22% stake in the company and replaced Clague. [5] In 1977,Hutchison Whampoa Limited was formed as a result of merger between Hutchison International Limited and Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company Limited. A year later Hutchison Whampoa was listed on stock exchange. [6]
In 1979,Michael Sandberg convinced G. M. Sayer,not to hand over a restructured Hutchison Whampoa to another British firm. The bank instead sold off the company on generous terms to Li Ka-shing. [7] On 25 September 1979,at the close of trade in London,HSBC announced that it was selling its 23% stake in Hutchison Whampoa to Cheung Kong for HK$639 million. [5]
During the 1980s,Hutchison Whampoa bought 33 percent of Hong Kong Electric Holdings. In 1985,Hutchison Telecommunications,a mobile-phone service,was launched which became a major player in telecommunications in the 1990s. By 2004,Li's equity in the HW gradually increased to 49.9 per cent. [8]
In March 2011,Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) announced that the company would IPO through Singapore Exchange for about US$5.4 billion. This would be the largest offering in South East Asia and surpass Petronas Chemicals' offering of about $4.1 billion. [9]
In January 2015,Li Ka-shing entered into talks with Telefónica to buy its British mobile division O2 for around $15.4 billion [10] but the deal was blocked in 2016 by the EU's Competition Commissioner. [11]
In January 2015,Li Ka Shing confirmed plans for Cheung Kong Holdings to purchase the remaining shares in Hutchison Whampoa that it did not already own,and merge the two companies as CK Hutchison Holdings. The merger is part of a larger reorganisation of Li's businesses,which will involve the spin-off of property assets into Cheung Kong Property. [12] The new holding company has been incorporated in the Cayman Islands,rather than Hong Kong. [13]
In May 2015,Hutchison revealed plans to sell one-third of its stake in its British-based mobile phone businesses for a potential fee of $4.3 billion to five investors including GIC Private Limited,Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,Abu Dhabi Investment Authority,BTG Pactual and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. [14]
HWL operated in 54 countries and employed around 230,000 staff worldwide. The company had six core businesses,most of which transferred to CK Hutchison:
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) operates across Europe,the Americas,Asia,the Middle East and Africa. It operates in five of the seven busiest container ports in the world,handling 13% of the world's container traffic. Hutchison Whampoa operates container terminals in Panama,as well as Mexico and other parts of the Americas.
From office buildings in Hong Kong,Beijing,Shanghai,to luxury residential properties in the United Kingdom,Hutchison Whampoa Property develops and invests in real estate. Together with Cheung Kong Holdings,HWL has set up a joint-venture company,Harbour Plaza Hotel Management to operate and manage hotels under the portfolio of the Hutchison Property division.
A.S. Watson Group (ASW),HWL's retail arm,operates its flagship retail chains in Asia such as Watsons,ParknShop supermarket,TASTE food galleria,GOURMET boutique style fine food hall,GREAT Food Hall,Fortress electrical appliances store,Watson's Wine Cellar and Nuance-Watson duty-free operator. In Europe,ASW's retail network comprises health and beauty chains:DC,Drogas,Kruidvat,Rossmann,Savers Health &Beauty,Superdrug,Trekpleister,Spektr and Watson's,as well as luxury perfumeries and cosmetics retail brands:Marionnaud,ICI Paris XL and The Perfume Shop. A.S. Watson is the world's largest health and beauty retailer.
Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI),HWL's infrastructure arm,is a diversified infrastructure company with businesses in transportation,energy,infrastructure materials,water plants and related operations.
HWL was a major shareholder of Husky Energy,one of Canada's largest energy and energy related companies,holding 33.97%.
HWL owned[ clarification needed ] the "3" brand. It also owns 60.4% [15] of Hutchison Asia Telecommunications (HAT),which provides mobile phone networks and data services in Asia. The company's subsidiary 3 Group Europe owns its '3' branded businesses in Europe. Another 1% of HAT is owned directly by Cheung Kong Holdings,the holding behind Cheung Kong group to which HWL belongs. Additionally,HWL is an official backer of the .mobi top level domain created specifically for the mobile internet and has launched the mobile portal Three.mobi under its "3" brand. [16] [17] Hutchison Whampoa attempted to purchase O2 for £10.25 billion in March 2015, [18] but the European Commission blocked the acquisition in May 2016. [19]
Hutchison Whampoa has received criticism from charities such as the Burma Campaign UK and appear on the charity's 'dirty list' for their involvement in trade with the military junta in Burma. They state that the company's subsidiary Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) is "strategically positioned to facilitate and service Myanmar's international trade" [20] and are concerned about the role foreign investment plays in "perpetuating" the country's brutal regime. [21]
Sir Ka-shing Li is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the senior advisor for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May 2018; through it, he is a port investor, developer, and operator of the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe. As of July 2023, Li is the 33rd richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$37.7 billion.
Victor Li Tzar-kuoi is a Hong Kong businessman, the chair of the board and group co-managing director of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited and the chairman of the board and managing director of CK Asset Holdings Limited and the Chairman of CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited. He is the elder son of tycoon Li Ka-shing and the brother of Richard Li.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, is a multinational conglomerate, based in Hong Kong. It was one of Hong Kong's leading multi-national conglomerates. The company merged with its subsidiary Hutchison Whampoa on 3 June 2015, as part of a major reorganisation, to become part of CK Hutchison Holdings.
O2 (typeset as O2) is a global brand name owned by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. The company uses the O2 brand for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany. Since 2018, it is also used as an online-only flanker brand in Spain.
Solina Chau Hoi Shuen is a businesswoman in Hong Kong, a business partner in the Cheung Kong Group, and the director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. She is also a major stockholder in Tom.com, a publication and advertising company in the People's Republic of China.
Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was a Hong Kong dockyard, once among the largest in Asia.
CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI) is the largest publicly listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong with diversified investments in energy infrastructure, transportation Infrastructure, water Infrastructure and infrastructure related business, parented by CK Hutchison Holdings, businessman Li Ka Shing's flagship company. It is a leading player in the global infrastructure arena in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and North America. The chairman is Victor Li, the elder son of Li Ka Shing.
Hutchison 3G Enterprises S.A.R.L., trading as 3 (Three) and Hutchison 3G, is the owner of several originally UMTS-based mobile phone networks and broadband Internet providers, which operate in Hong Kong, Macau, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Canning Fok Kin-ning is a Hong Kong business executive. He is a director or chair of numerous management board in companies of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa. He is hailed as the "King of Employees" since he has been one of the Hong Kong's top-five taxpayers in the past few years.
Hutchison Harbour Ring Limited was a Bermuda incorporated company based in Hong Kong. The company was sold to Oceanwide Holdings in December 2014.
Hutchison Whampoa Property Group was the property development and investment arm of Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong.
Telefonica UK Limited, trading as O2 (stylised as O2), is a British telecommunications services provider, headquartered in Reading, England which operates under the O2 brand. It is owned by VMED O2 UK Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between Telefónica and Liberty Global. O2 is the UK's largest mobile network operator, with 23.8 million subscribers as of July 2024.
Sir John Douglas Clague was a British Hong Kong soldier and entrepreneur who spent most of his life in Hong Kong.
AS Watson Group is the world's largest international health and beauty retailer by number of stores, with over 16,500 stores in 28 markets, primarily in Asia and Europe.
The 2013 Hong Kong dock strike was a 40-day labour strike at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal. It was called by the Union of Hong Kong Dockers (UHKD), an affiliate of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) on 28 March 2013, against contracting companies to whom workforce management had been out-sourced by the Hongkong International Terminals Ltd. (HIT), subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT), which is in turn owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (HWL), flagship company of Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest man. The strike workers demanded better pay and working conditions. The strike ended on 6 May 2013 when the strikers accepted the offer of 9.8% pay rise. It was the longest running industrial action in Hong Kong in years. Public support and media attention on the strike were unprecedented in the city's history. Some observers marked this as the rejuvenation of political engagement.
CK Asset Holdings Limited, formerly Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited, is a property developer registered in the Cayman Islands, with its headquarters and principal place of business in Hong Kong.
CK Hutchison Holdings Limited is a Hong Kong–based and Cayman Islands–registered multinational conglomerate corporation. The company was formed in March 2015 through the merger of Cheung Kong Holdings and its main associate company Hutchison Whampoa. It has four core businesses – ports and related services, retail, infrastructure and telecommunications – which operate in over 50 countries, as well as several other investments around the world.
HGC Global Communications Limited, formerly known as Hutchison Global Communications Limited, is an internet service provider of Hong Kong. In the past it was part of Hutchison Telecommunications, itself part of a mega-conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings. Hutchison Global Communications was a listed company, via its parent company Hutchison Global Communications Holdings from 2004 to 2005.
Park'N Fly Airport Parking, also known as Park'N Fly, is a Canadian airport parking operator based in Mississauga, Ontario. It is the largest and only national operator for off-airport car parks in Canada. Park'N Fly is currently owned by CK Hutchison Holdings, a conglomerate in Hong Kong.
The Li Ka-shing Family refers to a wealthy family based in Hong Kong but with business interests worldwide. The family empire was started by Li Ka-shing, a wealthy Hong Kong entrepreneur who has long been Hong Kong's wealthiest individual and one of the wealthiest in the world. While Li Ka-shing and his family are best known for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, they are also associated with a number of other businesses outside of CK including Pacific Century Group.