Dividend bonanza as Li & Fung sells three businesses for US$1.1b
Friday, December 15, 2017
(SCMP by Jane Li) – Shareholders in the venerable Li & Fung Limited – the multi-faceted Hong Kong trading conglomerate started in 1906 – are set for bumper payouts after the firm announced it is selling its furniture, jumpers and beauty businesses to a consortium for US$1.1 billion, nearly half of which will be paid out as a special dividend to stockholders.
Li & Fung has been supplying high-volume, time-sensitive consumer goods for years from Hong Kong, acting as a global middleman for manufacturers, including global retail giant, Wal-Mart.
The buying consortium is 45 per cent owned by Hony Capital, a Chinese private equity firm controlled by Legend Holdings. Fung Holdings and Fung Investment, parts of the Fung Group, also own 45 per cent and 10 per cent in the consortium. Fung Group is the controlling shareholder of Li & Fung.
