(Recasts to lead on potential stake sale; refiled to remove
extraneous word, correct a preposition)
* CK Hutchison considering stake sale to "new investor"
* Sale would help fund CK Hutchison's takeover of UK's 02
* CK Hutchison reports 2015 profit of HK$31.17 bln
HONG KONG, March 17 (Reuters) - CK Hutchison Holdings
0001.HK , the ports-to-telecoms arm of Asia's richest man Li
Ka-shing, said it may sell a stake in its UK phone carrier Three
to help fund its proposed $15 billion takeover of rival operator
O2 UK.
In an exchange filing on Thursday, CK Hutchison said it was
considering selling a stake in Three to a "new investor" to
reduce the new cash investment required to purchase O2, without
naming the potential buyer.
CK Hutchison agreed in January last year to buy Telefonica's
TEF.MC British mobile unit O2 for up to 10.25 billion pounds
but the deal has run into regulatory hurdles. To overcome that
Hutchison has offered some concessions.
Among them Hutchison has offered to sell 30 percent of the
merged network's capacity, a person familiar with the matter
said on Thursday. L5N16P3PE
Hutchison said if the stake sale goes through, the company
would continue to operate Three and O2 as separate businesses.
This would be done in part to achieve regulatory approvals among
other things, it added.
The disclosure of the potential stake sale came as the
company reported a net profit of HK$31.17 billion ($4.02
billion) for 2015, a year in which it grappled with weak euro
growth and in which sluggish oil prices weighed on its energy
business.
CK Hutchison was created in a group restructuring announced
early last year that segregated its property assets and
increased exposure to overseas markets.
The result was in line with an average estimate for net
profit of HK$31.03 billion, according to 10 analysts polled by
Reuters. Turnover stood at HK$316.32 billion.
A fall in oil prices hurt its energy assets, but its Husky
Energy Inc HSE.TO unit was able to post a
smaller-than-expected quarterly loss for the fourth quarter as
cost cuts helped cushion the impact of slumping oil prices.
Last week, CK Hutchison said it had "fruitful" talks with EU
regulators at a hearing aimed at dispelling antitrust concerns
over its plan to become the top UK mobile operator by buying
Telefonica's TEF.MC O2 unit, which is crucial for Hutchison to
expand its telecoms footprint across Europe.
Its infrastructure arm, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings
Ltd 1038.HK , saw its 2015 profit fall 65 percent without one-
off gains from asset sales notched in the previous year.
($1 = 7.7566 Hong Kong dollars)