Latest news with #RichardLi
New Straits Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Richard Li's China insurance deal falters over port sale concerns
KUALA LUMPUR: Billionaire Richard Li's efforts to expand his insurance business into mainland China have been put on hold after Beijing reacted with fury to his father Li Ka-shing's plan to sell a suite of global ports to BlackRock, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Richard, business tycoon Li Ka-shing's younger son, was in advanced talks to secure an insurance license in China, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The discussions were suspended shortly after the port sale was announced in early March amid growing uncertainty over Beijing's stance on the deal, the report said. A deal would have given FWD Group, Li's insurance firm, long-sought access to the lucrative Chinese market, possibly through an acquisition or partnership with a mainland insurance firm, it said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. FWD Group declined to comment. Bloomberg had reported in March that China has instructed state-owned firms to pause new deals with businesses linked to Li Ka-shing and his family after his plan to sell two ports in Panama to a BlackRock-led consortium. FWD Group raised US$442 million through an initial public offering in Hong Kong earlier this week.
Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Richard Li's China insurance expansion talks stall amid backlash to father's port sale plan
[HONG KONG] Billionaire Richard Li's efforts to expand his insurance business into mainland China have been put on hold after Beijing reacted with fury to his father Li Ka-shing's plan to sell a suite of global ports to US firm BlackRock, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday (Jul 10). Richard, business tycoon Li Ka-shing's younger son, was in advanced talks to secure an insurance licence in China, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The discussions were suspended shortly after the port sale was announced in early March amid growing uncertainty over Beijing's stance on the deal, the report said. A deal would have given FWD Group, Li's insurance firm, long-sought access to the lucrative Chinese market, possibly through an acquisition or partnership with a mainland insurance firm, it said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. FWD Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Bloomberg had reported in March that China has instructed state-owned firms to pause new deals with businesses linked to Li Ka-shing and his family after his plan to sell two ports in Panama to a BlackRock-led consortium. FWD Group raised US$442 million through an initial public offering in Hong Kong earlier this week. REUTERS
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Richard Li's China insurance expansion talks stall amid backlash to father's port sale plan, Bloomberg reports
(Reuters) -Billionaire Richard Li's efforts to expand his insurance business into mainland China have been put on hold after Beijing reacted with fury to his father Li Ka-shing's plan to sell a suite of global ports to U.S. firm BlackRock, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Richard, business tycoon Li Ka-shing's younger son, was in advanced talks to secure an insurance license in China, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The discussions were suspended shortly after the port sale was announced in early March amid growing uncertainty over Beijing's stance on the deal, the report said. A deal would have given FWD Group, Li's insurance firm, long-sought access to the lucrative Chinese market, possibly through an acquisition or partnership with a mainland insurance firm, it said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. FWD Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Bloomberg had reported in March that China has instructed state-owned firms to pause new deals with businesses linked to Li Ka-shing and his family after his plan to sell two ports in Panama to a BlackRock-led consortium. FWD Group raised $442 million through an initial public offering in Hong Kong earlier this week. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
10-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Li Ka-shing's Ports Deal Trips Up Son's China Insurance Ambition
Billionaire Richard Li's talks to expand his insurance business into mainland China have stalled after Beijing reacted with fury to his father Li Ka-shing's plan to sell a suite of global ports — including two in Panama — to a group backed by US firm BlackRock Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Richard, Li Ka-shing's younger son, was in advanced discussions to ink a deal that would have given his firm an insurance license in China when the ports sale was announced in early March, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. Talks have since been suspended amid uncertainty over Beijing's opposition to the Panama ports deal, the people said.
South China Morning Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
FWD's IPO journey charts fall and rise of Hong Kong market
As Hong Kong's IPO activities have come back to life, few companies making their stock debut better mirror the market's ups and downs in the past few years than FWD Group . The pan-Asian insurer founded by local tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai has reached the end of a four-year journey after selling 91.3 million shares with a market capitalisation of HK$48.8 billion (US$6.2 billion). The home-grown firm's high-profile debut stood out amid a slew of initial public offerings by companies from the mainland. The odyssey has taken it to New York and back , followed by delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic and a slumping local market. However, that may have been a blessing in disguise given its successful initial public offering this week. FWD first hit a roadblock in 2021, when the political and regulatory environments turned against mainland and Hong Kong firms hoping to list in the United States. Washington politicians in favour of financial decoupling threatened to delist Chinese firms from US exchanges. US regulators raised questions about potential risks associated with Beijing extending control over Hong Kong firms. When Li decided to list at home, Hong Kong was in the middle of a pandemic. That and a slowdown in the Chinese economy mired the capital market, with FWD having to postpone its local IPO several times. But fortune changed with a rerating of the city's capital market early this year, which helped buoy valuations and led to the return of global investment and IPOs. Hong Kong has reclaimed the international IPO crown, with 42 mostly mainland companies having raised US$13.5 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the first half of this year. The Nasdaq ranked a distant second with US$8.85 billion raised. Supportive policies on both sides of the border help excite IPO interest. Officials from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the government have been working to expand financial connections across Asia and the Middle East. One of FWD's cornerstone investors is Mubadala Capital, a unit of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund.
