Li Ka-shing's conglomerate, Hutchison Whampoa has made its first foray into Korea. And bearing in mind his famous 'cluster strategy', the acquisition of Korean ports may herald his entry into Korea in a much bigger way.
Yesterday, Hutch announced it wanted to buy three Korean container ports for $215 million. Should the deal get past the Korean Fair Trade Commission the only antitrust body in Asia, Li will have the largest market share in the Korean port business.
Li had already sank around $759 million into a new container port in Kwangyang - the home of POSCO. With his new acquisition he will have two ports in Kwangyang and two in Pusan -...
