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China’s Olympic gymnast Li Ning mulls buying out his sportswear company as ailing Hong Kong market spurs take-private deals

  • Li is considering leading a consortium to buy out Li Ning Co, which had a market cap of HK$52.85 billion (US$6.8 billion) as of Monday, say four sources
  • Hong Kong-listed firms have been involved in US$4 billion worth of take-private deals so far in 2024, versus US$1.2 billion for all of last year

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Li, 61, founded Li Ning Co a few years after retiring from a decorated gymnastics career in 1988. Photo: SCMP Handout
Reuters
Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and Olympic champion Li Ning is considering taking his namesake sportswear company private from the Hong Kong stock exchange, four people said, adding to a string of such potential deals in a faltering market.
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Li is considering leading a consortium to buy out Li Ning Co, which had a market capitalisation of HK$52.85 billion (US$6.8 billion) as of Monday, said the people, who have knowledge of the matter.

Li, 61, founded Li Ning Co a few years after retiring from a decorated gymnastics career in 1988. Along with his family, he owns more than 10 per cent of the company, its 2023 interim report showed.

A number of global and regional private equity firms, including TPG, PAG and Hillhouse Investment, have been tapped to see if they are interested in joining as an investor, two of the people said.

The discussions to take Li Ning Co private are in the early stages and details have not been finalised, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the information was confidential. Li Ning made its Hong Kong debut in 2004.

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The company’s shares jumped as much as 20 per cent to HK$24.55 following the Reuters report on Tuesday, the highest since November.

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