Hong Kong's billionaire Cheng family sells Australian energy firm for $4.3B to Singapore's Sembcorp

By Reuters December 15, 2025 | 01:06 am PT

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng, has agreed to sell Australia's Alinta Energy for an enterprise value of A$6.5 billion (US$4.32 billion) to Singapore-listed Sembcorp Industries.

The deal, one of the largest overseas expansions for the Singaporean company, gives it full control of one of Australia's biggest integrated energy retailers and generators, serving about 1.1 million customers and operating 3.4 gigawatts of capacity across gas, coal, wind and solar.

It also marks a portfolio shift for CTFE, which bought Alinta for A$4 billion in 2017. CTFE has been reorganizing its holdings amid liquidity pressures at the Cheng family's heavily indebted real estate conglomerate, New World Development, where Henry serves as chairman and executive director.

Henry Cheng, chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, attends a news conference on the company's annual results in Hong Kong, June 17, 2014. Photo by Reuters

Sembcorp said last Thursday it will acquire Alinta Energy via two of its Australian units by purchasing the operating entities Pioneer Sail Holdings and Latrobe Valley Power (Holdings), without revealing the ownership breakdown.

The acquisition gives the Singaporean company access to a 10.4 GW development pipeline, including wind and hydro systems, and Alinta's largest asset, a coal plant in Victoria.

The 1,200-megawatt Loy Yang B brown coal plant supplies roughly a fifth of the state's electricity, according to Alinta Energy's website.

Sembcorp earlier said it had been evaluating potential acquisitions after media reports of talks with CTFE.

The company expects the deal to be immediately earnings-accretive, forecasting a 9% rise in pro-forma 2024 EPS and a 14% gain for the 12 months to June 2025.

The move also extends Sembcorp's Asia-Pacific expansion drive. The firm, which has been accelerating its renewables pivot, bought solar assets in India from ReNew Energy Global in October and has been deploying capital across the region.

CTFE said that under its eight-year ownership, Alinta's EBITDA grew at 13% compound annual growth rate, surpassing its top three peers by 14%.

Operationally, Alinta expanded generation capacity by 74% and added over 700 jobs during the same period, it added.