Two months after the announcement, the Li Jiacheng family has signed a deal to buy Australia`s largest gas pipeline operator.
On Aug. 13, Chang he was the four largest companies of Changhe Group (00001.HK), Cheung Kong Industrial Group (hereinafter referred to as Changshi, 01113.HK), Cheung Kong Infrastructure Group (hereinafter referred to as CKI, 01038.HK) and Electric Energy Industry Group Limited (hereinafter referred to as electrification). 00006.HK) also announced the joint acquisition of the Australian gas pipeline operator APA Group project, a long-range consortium of the companies, on August 12 to implement the implementation agreement.
Based on the total number of securities issued by the target company, the acquisition of APA Group cost about A $twelve billion nine hundred and seventy eight million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine (sixty five billion eighty two million yuan) to the long sum consortium, the largest overseas acquisition ever made by the company. According to the announcement, Changshi is expected to have a 60 percent / 80 percent interest in the consortium and 10 percent / 20 percent to Changji and Telecom respectively.
The same day, APA Group announced that if the agreement is not fulfilled by 2019, the purchase price will be increased by A $0.04 every month. But the offer is not expected to affect the company`s final dividend payments for the current fiscal year.
Under the agreement, if Changji or WiFi`s participation in the joint venture is not approved by the shareholders of the joint venture, the consortium`s membership will be changed, for example, Changshi will own no less than 80 percent of the consortium`s interest, while the rest will be owned by Changji or Telephony. Li Jiacheng and his son, Li Zeju, currently hold about 31.71 percent of the issued share capital (both direct and indirect) of Changshi.
APA Group is one of the largest natural gas infrastructure companies in Australia. Its main businesses include gas transportation, gas storage and processing, gas and renewable energy generation across Australia. Among them, energy infrastructure, such as natural gas pipeline, is its main asset, valued at more than US $20 billion, including the 7500 km interconnection pipeline built on Australia`s east coast. Western Australia operates about 3500 kilometers of natural gas pipelines and power stations in Queensland. It accounts for almost half of Australia`s natural gas traffic.
, APA Group`s profit before interest, depreciation and amortization last year was about A $848 million (four billion two hundred and fifty three million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine yuan). , APA Group`s unaudited combined net asset value at the end of last year was about $twenty billion forty one million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine.
According to the Wall Street Journal, experts have yet to determine whether the deal is fair and reasonable, with regulatory approval and APA Group shareholders voting for it. APA Group shareholders are expected to vote at the end of November.
It took only two months for the Li Jiacheng family to go from price bidding to implementation. On June 13, Mr. Li bid for A $13 billion (sixty five billion one hundred and seventy eight million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine yuan) for the APA Group project.
This is not the first time the Li Jiacheng family in Australia "big" layout of natural gas. As early as July 1999, Changji bought a stake in Envestra19.97%, Australia`s largest gas distributor, for A $100m.
In April 2017, Li Jiacheng paid A $7.4 billion (37.2 billion yuan) to acquire a controlling stake in Australian energy group Duet Group, an Australian-listed company. The group operates gas pipelines and distribution operations in Western Australia and Victoria.
In a bid for APA Group, Mr Li said he would further expand Duet Group`s infrastructure assets in Australia.
Unlike "buy-and-sell" in real estate, long-term and investment in energy and infrastructure is more robust and long-term. Starting with the purchase of Canadian oil and gas company Hesky Energy in 1986, the Li Jiacheng family has been distributing overseas energy for 33 years, investing about 200 billion Hong Kong dollars (175.3 billion yuan), mostly long-term holdings.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions and investment areas, its overseas energy footprint covers mainly countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia, covering oil, gas, electricity and water assets.
Prior to a major attack on the Australian market, Li Ka-shing`s energy investment was centered on the European market, particularly in the UK. By the end of 2016, about 25% of the UK`s electricity distribution market, nearly 30% of the gas supply market and nearly 7% of the water supply market, is under the control of Li Ka-shing, according to the UK
However, with Brexit and euro foreign exchange fluctuations and other factors, the return on investment received an impact.
Compared with overseas assets, Li Jiacheng`s energy distribution in China is relatively small, mainly oil and electricity projects, founded in 1976 is the Li Jiacheng family layout of energy field starting point.
On March 18, Li Jiacheng, nearly 90, announced his formal retirement on May 10, and said he would continue to increase investment in the 40 billion yuan gas project in the South China Sea. This is the Li Jiacheng family at present in China`s largest energy investment project.
The project is a 12-year partnership between Li Jiacheng`s Canadian energy company, Hesky Energy, and China National Offshore Oil Group Limited (CNOOC) in developing the South China Sea Liwan oil field.
The Liwan oil field in the South China Sea is the first deep-water oil field in China, located about 300 km southeast of Hong Kong, including Liwan 3 / 1 gas field, Liuhua 34 / 2 gas field and Liuhua 29 / 1 gas field. CNOOC and Husky own 51% and 49% respectively. Among them, the proven reserves of Liwan 3-1 gas field exceed 100 billion cubic meters.
As of December last year, Liwan 3-1 gas field gas production has exceeded 10 billion cubic meters. Liuhua 34? 2 gas field was put into production in the same month.
