Liu Chuanzhi, Legend Holdings Ltd Chairman
Legend Holdings Ltd Chairman Liu Chuanzhi likened his expansion plans to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's strategy, as the owner of China's biggest computer maker seeks to diversify through acquisitions.
"We have studied the ways of Investor AB, we have studied the ways of Warren Buffett and we have studied the ways of Li Ka-shing," Liu, who's also chairman of Lenovo Group Ltd, said in a briefing in Hong Kong. "Our way is a little similar to Li Ka-shing."
Liu said his strategy will resemble Li's because Beijing-based Legend will target controlling stakes with the 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) it plans to invest beyond technology, property and fund management. Li, the 81-year-old chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, became Hong Kong's richest man by starting a plastics company in the 1950s and expanding into real estate, ports, energy and telecommunications across 54 markets.
"We will try to obtain separate listings for our units, which will in turn increase our scale, and provide support for the parent company," Liu, 65, said.
Legend is close to completing an investment in a "new energy" company, Liu said, without elaborating. He declined to specify when Legend plans to list its shares, saying only the company wishes to have several "solid and growing" businesses when it offers shares to the public.
Other investments
Aside from Lenovo, the world's fourth-largest maker of personal computers, Legend controls Hony Capital, a private-equity fund that manages $2.8 billion, and Beijing-based developer Raycom Real Estate. It owns a minority holding in Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co, which runs an investment-banking venture with Goldman Sachs Group Inc in China.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the investment firm controlled by Buffett, the world's second-richest man, owns minority stakes in companies including Coca-Cola Co, American Express Co and Kraft Foods Inc. Investor AB, the holding company controlled by Sweden's Wallenberg family, owns minority holdings in companies including SEB AB and Ericsson AB.
Li, whose wealth was estimated to be $16.2 billion by Forbes Asia magazine in February, is dubbed "Superman" by Hong Kong's media because of his investing acumen. The combined market value of Hong Kong-listed companies under the Cheung Kong Group, including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, totalled HK$626 billion ($80.8 billion) as of the end of August, according to its website.
Liu co-founded Legend in 1984 with an investment of about $30,000 from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he was formerly a researcher.
He returned as chairman of Lenovo in February after resigning from the post following the 2005 acquisition of International Business Machines Corp's personal computer unit. The Academy this month completed the sale of a 29 percent stake in Legend to China Oceanwide Holdings.
