No matter who gets Hutch, Shing’s the winner

NEW DELHI: No matter which of the potential buyers acquires control of mobile firm Hutch Essar, one man is sitting happy in Hong Kong and watching all the developments. Li Ka-shing, the billionaire chairman of Hutchison, who is revered as “Chiu Yan” (Superman) by millions of Hong Kong people, will reap billions by selling out his group’s 67% stake in Hutch Essar, ‘Business Week’ magazine reported on Wednesday.

The growing number of potential suitors has pushed the expected valuation of Hutch Essar to over $20 billion. This price has taken the company’s valuation to nearly $21 billion and represents a huge premium since June last year, when HTIL raised its stake in Hutch Essar by 5.11% for $450 million, while valuing the company at less than $9 billion, the magazine said.

The sale of Hutch Essar won’t be the first time when Li has displayed an uncanny sense of knowing when to cash in his chips. In 1999, he pocketed $20 billion in profits when Hutchison sold British firm Orange to Mannesmann. Later that year, he got $5.9 billion for its share of VoiceStream Wireless.