One of Britain’s biggest pub operators, Greene King, with thousands of AWP machines on its sites, is being acquired by Hong Kong multi-faceted business group CKA, owner of pharmacy chain Superdrug and mobile phone operator Three, among many other assets.

GK

CKA is owned by the Li family, said to be worth nearly US$30bn, the head of which, Li Ka-shing is said to be the world’s richest man.

The pub and beer company is being sold for £2.7bn. It owns 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the UK.

It may be coincidental that Greene King’s flagship beer, Greene King IPA has become enormously popular in mainland China. CKA will also be taking on nearly £2bn in debt at Greene King, making the deal actually worth £4.6bn.