Hong Kong’s richest man’s £2.7 billion takeover of pubs giant Greene King moved a step closer on Wednesday.
Greene King investors met yesterday in the City and voted in favour of the transaction involving 2700 pubs and restaurants.
Meanwhile, Li Ka-shing’s firm CKA got 99.39% backing from its shareholders.
Philip Yea, chairman of Greene King, said: “As previously set out, we believe CKA’s long-term vision for Greene King, supported by our established position in the pub industry, high-quality estate and resilient financial profile, is in the best interests of employees, tenants, customers and suppliers.”
Greene King’s share price rocketed 50% to the offer price of 850p after the deal was unveiled in August.
Anna Barnfather, an analyst at Liberum, said the vote “shines a light on other asset-backed companies (M&B and Marston’s in particular) which could be of interest to other overseas investors looking to use their FX advantage and Brexit uncertainty to buy UK assets”.
Trade association UKHospitality’s Kate Nicholls said the hospitality sector is viewed as attractive “despite the well-publicised headwinds it has faced”.
