Hutchison to buy out phone unit

HONG KONG: Billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd offered to take a phone unit private for HK$4.23 billion ($545 million) in cash after the stock underperformed the Hong Kong benchmark index for three years.

Hutchison Whampoa on Friday said it would seek the 40 percent of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd it doesn't own for HK$2.2 a share, or 33 percent more than the stock's last price before trading was suspended on Jan 4. The phone unit's shares rose as much as 30 percent after the offer, which exceeded estimates by analysts at Credit Suisse.

Hutchison said the buyout would allow the phone company to plough cash back into expanding its operations in emerging markets including Indonesia and Vietnam.