Cheung Kong Infrastructure Executive: Can't Comment On Bid For E.ON's UK Grid Operations

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (1038.HK) Deputy Chairman Victor Li on Tuesday said he won't comment on whether the company is bidding for E.ON AG's (EOAN.XE) U.K. electricity grid distribution business because he was bound by a confidentiality agreement.

The executive didn't elaborate on his comments, made on the sidelines of a luncheon, following a Sunday Times report Sunday that said CKI, owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is close to securing E.ON's electricity grid networks. Victor Li is the elder son of Li Ka-shing.

The newspaper said CKI was understood to have outbid U.S. energy firm PPL Corp. (PPL) for the GBP3.7 billion power distribution business, put up for sale last year by Germany-headquartered E.ON AG (EONGY).

People familiar with the situation said earlier that CKI is in the running to acquire the German company's assets, along with PPL.

CKI's 39%-owned unit, Power Assets Holdings Ltd. (0006.HK), said in February the company was reviewing bidding documents for the U.K. assets, though no decision had been made. Power Assets was earlier part of a consortium with CKI that bought Electricite de France SA's U.K. electricity distribution networks for GBP5.78 billion.

E.ON's U.K. business comprises the U.K.'s second-largest electricity generator and its second-largest distribution network. The distribution business, Central Networks, supplies power to more than 5 million customers in central England.

-By Yvonne Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; yvonne.lee@dowjones.com

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