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Cheryl Arcibal

CK Infrastructure Holdings is poised to complete the disposal of UK Rails (Eversholt Rail) this month following London’s approval of the deal, according to the company, which is part of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s business empire.
The train leasing company is owned by a consortium of the group’s companies: CK Infrastructure, which holds 65 per cent, along with CK Asset Holdings (20 per cent), Power Asset Holdings (10 per cent) and CK Hutchison Holdings (5 per cent), according to the group.
The deal, which had secured the nod of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, would “generate substantial revenue”, CK Infrastructure said on Wednesday.
The price was not disclosed, but earlier reports suggested that the group was seeking a valuation of as much as £4 billion (US$5.38 billion). The group acquired the asset in 2015 for £2.5 billion.
During CK Holdings’ interim results announcement in August, chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi said that the decision to sell the group’s interest in UK Rails would allow the “joint venture to unlock the potential value of the asset”.
“Only by buying and selling can a business grow bigger,” Li said. “We have never liked borrowing, so we reserve funds from time to time for larger transactions.”
Eversholt Rail is a top UK rail vehicle leasing company. It serves rail and freight operators by leasing them regional, short-distance and high-speed passenger trains, as well as freight locomotives, under long-term contracts.
The sale came after CK Infrastructure agreed in August to pay around £350 million for 32 wind farms in the UK.
In April, it formed a consortium with CK Asset and Power Assets to acquire Lionrai Investments No 1, which owns 100 per cent of Northern Ireland natural gas network Phoenix Energy from NatWest Group Pension Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia for £757 million.
Phoenix Energy is one of three gas distribution network operators in Northern Ireland. Its network covers nearly half of the local population, including Greater Belfast, and accounts for 78 per cent of gas connections in Northern Ireland.

Two weeks later in May, CK bought UU Solar, which owns and operates 70 renewable power-generation assets in the UK, for £90.8 million.
In March last year, CK Hutchison, one of the flagship companies of the group, announced its bid to sell an 80 per cent stake in its overseas port assets to a consortium led by US firm BlackRock and Terminal Investment, the terminal arm of the world’s largest container shipper, Mediterranean Shipping.
The deal, valued at about US$23 billion, would encompass more than 40 terminal ports across more than 20 countries.
The transaction, however, has yet to be completed following Beijing’s opposition to the sale amid trade disputes with Washington.


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Mergers & Acquisitions

Li Ka-shing’s CK Infrastructure gets nod to sell train leasing firm UK Rails

Eversholt Rail leases passenger trains, as well as freight locomotives, to rail and freight operators. Photo: Handout

Flags of Cheung Kong Hutchison Holdings fly outside Cheung Kong Center in Central on March 28, 2025. Photo: Sam Tsang

Li Ka-shing’s CK Infrastructure Holdings acquires 32 UK wind farms for US$448.5 million

The portfolio of 32 onshore wind farms in the UK is the company’s third such purchase this year. Photo: Handout

Flags outside the Cheung Kong Center building in Central. Photo: Dickson Lee

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A cargo ship sails past the Panama Canal’s Port of Balboa, managed by CK Hutchison Holdings, in Panama City. Photo: AP

The logo of CK Hutchison is pictured on a flag outside the Cheung Kong Center building in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP

CK Hutchison Holdings’ group co-managing director Dominic Lai (left), group managing director and finance director Frank Sixt (centre) and group CFO Kwan Cheung at the earnings briefing on Thursday. Photo: Handout

Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CK Asset and CK Hutchison. Photo: Handout

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Deal to dispose of UK Rails (Eversholt Rail), which was bought in 2015, ‘will generate substantial revenue’, company says


Deal to dispose of UK Rails (Eversholt Rail), which was bought in 2015, ‘will generate substantial revenue’, company says.


Li Ka-shing’s CK Infrastructure gets nod to sell train leasing firm UK Rails

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Deal to dispose of UK Rails (Eversholt Rail), which was bought in 2015, ‘will generate substantial revenue’, company says

Deal to dispose of UK Rails (Eversholt Rail), which was bought in 2015, ‘will generate substantial revenue’, company says