The board of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison has tempered down media reports that hinted at a possible change to its telecommunications operations.
Last Friday Reuters, citing sources, had reported that the company was mulling a spin-off of global telecom assets and would list the business on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
CK Hutchison it should be remembered was the Chinese owner of Three UK (3), which recently finally merged their UK operation with Vodafone, after close regulator scrutiny of the deal.
Telecom operations
CK Hutchison also operates the Three networks in Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Ireland.
In prior years, in 1991, Hutchison Whampoa (an earlier version of CK Hutchison) had acquired a stake in Microtel that was later renamed as Orange UK.
Orange UK then merged with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK to form a joint venture, EE in 2010.
EE of course was acquired by BT in 2016.
No decision
Now Reuters has reported the board of CK Hutchison has said on Monday that it has not made any decision on its global telecommunications business.
“From time to time, the Group receives proposals and explores and evaluates opportunities that may be available, with a view to enhancing long term value to shareholders, including possible transactions relating to the assets and operations of the company’s global telecommunication businesses,” the board reportedly said in a stock exchange filing.
A spin-off listing would be among those options, according to the filing.
The board said no decision has been made about any transaction and there is no certainty a transaction will take place.
