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UK: Hong Kong billionaire to buy pub group Greene King

By  |  August 19, 2019

Hong Kong’s richest family is to buy the 220-year-old pub and beer company Greene King for £2.7bn, the equivalent of £1m for every one of its 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels.

The deal adds to the vast stable of UK businesses that are part of the sprawling global empire controlled by Li Ka-shing, the 91-year-old multibillionaire who also owns pharmacy chain Superdrug and mobile operator Three.

It also marks the second time this year that a time-honoured British brewer has been snapped up by an Asian buyer, after Fuller’s was sold to Japanese drinks giant Asahi for £250m.

The deal will see CKA capitalise on a surge in the popularity of the brewer’s flagship beer Greene King IPA in mainland China. Sales soared there after President Xi Jinping was pictured drinking a pint of the brew with then prime minister David Cameron during a state visit in 2015.

Full Content: The Guardian

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