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. Hutchison International, under Colonel Sir Douglas Clague (1917–1981), gained controlling interest of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock in the 1960s.
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.
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.
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.
Read more about this topic: Hutchison Whampoa
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)