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Consortium of 3 Li Ka-shing firms acquires Phoenix Energy, Northern Ireland’s largest natural gas distribution network, for US$941 million

  • CK Infrastructure, CK Asset Holdings and Power Assets Holdings acquire Lionrai Investments No. 1, which owns 100 per cent of Phoenix Energy, from NatWest Group Pension Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia
  • Very happy to acquire quality asset characterised by stable returns: Victor Li Tzar-kuoi

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Phoenix Energy covers nearly half of the local population of Northern Ireland, including Greater Belfast, and covers 78 per cent of gas connections in the country. Photo: Handout
Yujie Xue
A consortium formed by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s infrastructure and energy flagship, CK Infrastructure, property arm, CK Asset Holdings, and international energy utility investment unit, Power Assets Holdings, is acquiring the largest natural gas network company in Northern Ireland, the CK Group said on Wednesday.
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The consortium has reached an agreement to acquire Lionrai Investments No. 1, which owns 100 per cent of natural gas network company Phoenix Energy, from NatWest Group Pension Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia in a deal worth £757 million (US$941 million). The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this month, the group said.

CK Infrastructure and CK Asset each hold 40 per cent equity interest in the consortium, while Power Assets holds the rest.

“We are very happy to acquire another quality asset characterised by stable returns,” Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, Li’s elder son and chairman of CK Infrastructure and CK Asset, said in a statement.

Beginning operations in 1996, Phoenix Energy is one of three gas distribution network operators in Northern Ireland and is now the region’s largest natural gas network company. It operates a network that covers nearly half of the local population, including Greater Belfast, and covers 78 per cent of gas connections in Northern Ireland.

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Lionrai reported an after-tax loss of £34.3 million in 2021 and £13.6 million in 2022, according to a CK Group stock exchange filing in Hong Kong. It did not provide data for last year.

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