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Is that your final answer?
Husky Energy won’t be sold, regardless of frequent overtures from international companies, say the majority owner and the chief executive officer.
Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong entrepreneur who personally and through family interests controls 71 percent of Canada’s smallest integrated producer-refiner-marketer, told reporters in March that he’s not interested in unloading a company that is on a roll, largely through its interests in the oil sands and Canada’s East Coast offshore.
Husky shares are currently trading at about C$70, double their 52-week low, creating a market value of C$30 billion, giving rise to constant speculation that Li might want to cash in.
Approaches on JVs Both he and CEO John Lau have admitted recently that state-owned Chinese firms along with U.S. and Canadian companies have been making approaches to talk about joint ventures or mega-projects.
Lau told the Financial Post that “if their goal is to do a merger or acquisition, my response has been no.”
He also said that Li, having accomplished one of the biggest turnarounds in the Canadian petroleum industry, is “more than happy. … I feel he would like to see Husky grow.”
Otherwise, Husky is focused on the oil sands as its primary growth vehicle, aiming for a five-fold increase to 500,000 barrels per day within 15 years.
So, until the next time …
—Gary Park
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