Richard Li has lodged an indicative bid for the south-east Asian businesses of ING’s $6bn Asian insurance operations, which the Dutch financial group is selling after taking government bailout cash during the financial crisis.
The younger son of Asia’s wealthiest tycoon, Li Ka-shing, is a surprise entrant to the field of bidders, which had been thought to include only strategic interest from insurance companies looking to boost their presence in Asia.
The majority owner of PCCW, the media and telecoms company, has been given a boost by a pledge from his tycoon father that he will financially back his son’s business ventures, giving Richard Li access to extra firepower.