Hutchison owner to buy shares in China Shipping Container Lines

Hutchison owner to buy shares in China Shipping Container Lines    Hong Kong entrepreneur Li Ka-shing, founder of ports-to-telecoms conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, has pledged to acquire a stake of about 10 percent in China Shipping Container Lines’ initial public offering, according to reports in Asia.
   Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reported that Li will spend up to $120 million (HK$936 million) to buy the stock in China’s second-largest container carrier.
   “Hutchison decided to make the investment because it is seeking to cooperate with China Shipping in future,” The Standard quoted a local source as saying.
   The announcement comes as a credibility boost for the IPO, which has suffered a lukewarm welcome in the Hong Kong investment community due to concerns over China’s expected economic austerity measures and the company’s high price-earnings ratio. State-owned China Shipping Group, which owns China Shipping Container Lines, has reportedly lowered twice the proceeds it expects to raise from the IPO, from the original $2 billion to $1 billion.
   Hutchison Whampoa has recently sold its stake in Hong Kong-based Orient (International) Container Line, the parent company of OOCL, and once expressed an interest in bidding for American President Lines in the mid-1990s.