Indeed, the old ginger root is still spicy, Li Jiacheng sold his UK power grid business at a low price and narrowly avoided a crisis from the US!
Recently, Cheung Kong Holdings officially sold its power grid business in the UK. Many people's first reaction was: "Oh, isn't this price too low?" But if you stretch the timeline and put together the puzzle of international situations, you will find that this is not a case of "selling at a loss." It's clearly Li Jiacheng pulling his big ship back from the stormy waters before the storm hit.
Li Jiacheng's company had some undercurrents of struggle with the US over the operating rights of the Panama Canal port. Although on the surface everything was calm, it was obviously a signal of a fundamental shift in the rules of Western capital games.
For decades, globalization has emphasized "mutual benefit and win-win," where capital can flow freely, and whoever is more efficient makes money. But this logic has completely collapsed now. What's the new rule? It's "security above efficiency" and "alliance above market."
Who is Li Jiacheng? He is a veteran who started from plastic flowers and experienced countless economic cycles. After the Panama incident, he might have already sensed something was wrong: in the Western world, your business success no longer depends on how much technology or management skills you have, but rather on whether your "background" is clean and whether you listen to Washington's orders.
This sale of the UK power grid business is not some marginal asset. The UK electricity distribution network is one of the largest distribution network operators in the UK, covering London, the southeast, and eastern regions, serving millions of users. This is a real "cash cow," a core infrastructure asset. But precisely because it is a "core infrastructure," it has become a hot potato.
In recent years, European and American countries have been increasingly strict about foreign control of critical infrastructure. When the US really acts, it won't just be a problem of "selling at a low price," but could be forced expropriation or being ordered to transfer it for zero profit. At that time, not only would it be difficult to recover funds, but whether it could escape unscathed would be an issue. In terms of discerning the wind direction, sometimes you really have to admire this old-timer.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858246422594635/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.