Hutchison Whampoa abandons Parknshop sale plan

According to a statement, Hutchinson decided to withdraw the sale of the business following a consultation with its advisors, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The group - which is owned by Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing - said it had come to the conclusion that a private market transaction would not deliver to best returns to its shareholders. Instead Hutchinson will focus on expanding its business into mainland China.

KKR and a TPG-led consortium were said to among seven private equity and strategic investors to put in a bids back in August, making offers alongside the likes of Australia's Woolworths, Japan's Aeon, and China Resources Enterprise. In addition, The Blackstone Group was also said to be involved in the process, with Korea's Lotte and China's SunArt among those to express an interest.

However, the PE bidders reportedly dropped out when offers failed to meet Hutchinson's expectations. The sale was anticipated to fetch $3-4 billion but the highest private equity offer was said to be around HK$20 billion ($2.6 billion).

ParknShop has 345 stores in Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau. In Hong Kong, where 270 of these outlets are based, ParknShop has a 40% market share. The business is said to have generated HK$21.7 billion ($2.8 billion) in revenue last year and EBITDA of HK$1.4 billion.

Hutchinson is now considering selling shares in its retail unit, A.S. Watson Group, via a public offering. However, the company said will not consider giving up control of any of the businesses.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• KKR
• Hong Kong (China)
• TPG Capital
• Consumer
• buyout