Hutchison Whampoa
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Company type | Public |
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SEHK: 13 OTC Pink: HUWHY | |
Industry | Conglomerate |
Founded | 1863 |
Founder | John Duflon Hutchison |
Headquarters | Hong Kong |
Key people | Sir Li Ka-shing, Canning Fok |
Products | Ports, Telecommunications, Retail, property |
Owner | Cheung Kong Holdings |
Number of employees | 230,000 |
Website | www.hutchison-whampoa.com |
Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL; Chinese: 和記黃埔有限公司; SEHK: 13; OTC Pink: HUWHY) of Hong Kong is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL is an international corporation with a diverse array of holdings which includes the world's biggest port and telecommunication operations in 14 countries and run under the 3 brand. Its business also includes retail, property development and infrastructure. It is 49.97% owned by the Cheung Kong Group.
History
Hutchison Whampoa was originally two companies founded in 19th century, namely Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock, established in 1863 by British merchant John Duflon Hutchison, and Hutchison International in 1877.[1] Hutchison International, under Colonel Sir Douglas Clague (1917–1981), gained controlling interest of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock in the 1960s.[2]
In 1977, Hutchison acquired all stakes of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock and became Hutchison Whampoa Limited.
Although Hutchison had a portfolio of valuable real estate interests in docks and retail ventures, the company ran into trouble, and had to be rescued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The bank took a 22% stake in the company, and had Clague replaced.[3]
On 25 September 1979, at the close of trade in London, the Bank announced it was selling its stake in Hutchison to Cheung Kong for HK$639 million.[3]
On March 2011, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) announced that the company will IPO through Singapore Exchange for about $5.4 billion. It will be the largest offering in South East Asia and surpass Petronas Chemicals offering at about $4.1 billion.[4]
Company
HWL currently operates in 54 countries and employs around 230,000 staff worldwide. The company has five core businesses:
- Ports and Related Services
- Property and Hotels
- Retail
- Energy, Infrastructure, Investments and Others
- Telecommunications
Industries
HWL operates in businesses related to:
- Ports and Related Services: Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) operates across Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It operates in five of the seven busiest container ports in the world, handling 13% of the world’s container traffic. Hutchison Whampoa operates container terminals in Panama, as it does in Mexico and other parts of the Americas.
- Property and Hotels: From office buildings in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, to luxury residential properties in the United Kingdom, Hutchison Whampoa Properties Limited develops and invests in real estate. Together with Cheung Kong Holdings, HWL has set up a joint-venture company, Harbour Plaza Hotel Management (International) Limited to operate and manage hotels under the portfolio of the Hutchison Property division.
- Retail: A.S. Watson & Co., Limited (ASW), HWL's retail arm, operates its flagship retail chains in Asia such as Watson's, PARKnSHOP supermarket, TASTE food galleria, GOURMET boutique style fine food hall, GREAT Food Hall, Fortress electrical appliances store, Watson's Wine Cellar and Nuance-Watson duty free operator. In Europe, ASW's retail network comprises health and beauty chains: DC, Drogas, Kruidvat, Rossmann, Savers, Superdrug, Trekpleister, Spektr and Watson's, as well as luxury perfumeries and cosmetics retail brands: Marionnaud, ICI PARIS XL and The Perfume Shop. A.S. Watson is the world's largest health and beauty retailer.
- Energy, Infrastructure, Investments and Others: Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI), HWL’s infrastructure arm, is a diversified infrastructure company with businesses in transportation, energy, infrastructure materials, water plants and related operations. HWL has an interest in Hongkong Electric Holdings (HEH), the sole electricity supplier to Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island. Hutchison is also a major shareholder of Husky Energy, one of Canada's largest energy and energy related companies.
- Telecommunications: HWL owns the "3" brand. It also owns 60.4%[5] of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL), which provides mobile phone networks and data services in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. Another percent of HTIL is owned directly by Cheung Kong Holdings, the holding behind Cheung Kong group to which HWL belongs. Additionally, HWL is an official backer of the .mobi top level domain created specifically for the mobile internet and has launched the mobile portal Three.mobi under its "3" brand.[6][7]
- Phone manufacturing: In 2008 Hutchinson Whampoa established a subsidiary, INQ, to manufacture mobile phones. In 2009 the INQ1 won GSMA Awards in Barcelona.
Criticisms
Hutchison Whampoa has received criticism from charities such as the Burma Campaign UK and appear on the charity's 'dirty list' for their involvement in trade with the military junta in Burma. They state that the company's subsidiary Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) is 'strategically positioned to facilitate and service Myanmar’s international trade'[8] and are concerned about the role foreign investment plays in 'perpetuating' the country's brutal regime.[9]
See also
- List of companies in Hong Kong
- Swire Group
- Jardine Matheson Group
- List of charities in the People's Republic of China
References
- ^ Hutchison-Whampoa: Milestones 1828-1959
- ^ Hutchison-Whampoa: Milestones 1960-1969
- ^ a b Stephen Vines, The Other Handover, Time magazine, 6 August 2005
- ^ Hutchison ports unit prices $5.4 billion Singapore IPO http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/us-hutchisonport-ipo-idUKTRE72A0EE20110311
- ^ http://www.irasia.com/listco/hk/hutchison/interim/ir45813-e_hwl0013ir.pdf
- ^ dotMobi Investors | dotMobi
- ^ three - 3 the company
- ^ http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list_details.html#h
- ^ http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list_briefing.html
External links
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- Hutchison Whampoa Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Template:Zh icon
- Hutchison Whampoa Limited Company Profile Yahoo! Finance
- Companies established in 1863
- 1863 establishments in Hong Kong
- Cheung Kong Holdings
- Hutchison Whampoa
- Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Conglomerate companies
- Mobile phone companies of Hong Kong
- Port operating companies
- Multinational companies headquartered in Hong Kong
- Trading companies
- Hang Seng Index Constituent Stocks
- Warrants issued in Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Retail companies of China