Chow Tai Fook Enterprises—controlled by Hong Kong’s billionaire Cheng family—announced Thursday that it has agreed to sell Australian power company Alinta Energy to Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries in a deal valued at A$6.5 billion ($4.3 billion).
Singapore-listed Sembcorp will buy all the shares of Alinta from Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, according to joint-statement released on Thursday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
“Our eight-year investment in Alinta has played an important role in providing reliable and affordable energy to Australians,” Henry Cheng, chairman of Chow Tai Fook Group said in the statement. “I am immensely proud of what the Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Alinta teams have accomplished on the energy transition journey”.
Sembcorp said the acquisition will help it reach its target of producing 25 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2028. Alinta currently produces 3.4 gigawatts of electricity generated from gas, wind, solar and coal plants across Australia and New Zealand and is developing another 10.4 gigawatts of additional. Sembcorp added that most of its planned S$14 billion ($10.80 billion) investment between now and 2028 will go toward renewable energy projects.
The Cheng family has been selling assets to pay off mounting debts of their real estate firm New World Development, which has been hit by a property downturn in Hong Kong and China. Earlier this year, New World sold its hotel in the Philippines’ Makati financial district to Ayala Land for an undisclosed amount. Last year, it also sold a shopping mall in Hong Kong’s Tsuen Wan district to Chinachem Group for HK$4 billion ($510 million).
Adrian Cheng, the third-generation heir of the Cheng family, stepped down as CEO of New World in September last year after the company reported its first annual loss in 20 years. He has since launched a new firm that focuses on digital assets and “transformative industries” such as entertainment.
With an estimated net worth of $19.5 billion, Henry Cheng and his family are among the wealthiest in Hong Kong. Henry succeeded his late father, Cheng Yu-tung, as chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and New World Development.
