HONG KONG – Jardine Matheson Holdings will buy back US$500 million (S$641.5 million) of its own shares by the end of 2027 as the Hong Kong company lays out targets for its transformation from a long-term owner-operator into an active investor more akin to a private equity fund.
Jardine also wants to grow its annual dividend by at least 5 per cent a year through to 2030 and deliver at least 9 per cent annual growth in total shareholder return, it said in a statement on June 16.
The company’s Singapore-listed shares fell 4 per cent to US$63.34 as at the midday trading break, following the announcement. The stock is down almost 8 per cent in 2026.
While Jardine offered the first public look at its financial targets, investors have already gleaned some initial details on the direction of the roughly 194-year-old empire, led by chairman Ben Keswick and chief executive Lincoln Pan.
Jardine is looking at divesting some of its decades-old holdings, including restaurant chains, properties and car dealerships. At the same time, it has made forays into new growth sectors such as the medical industry as it pushes forward with a business revamp.
The shift comes as Hong Kong’s storied conglomerates seek to adapt to the modern era, with a younger generation of heirs taking the helm at a time of unprecedented geopolitical headwinds and disruptive technological developments.
Jardine’s overhaul coincides with a similar rethink for billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings, where eldest son Victor Li announced a series of divestments, worth at least US$41 billion, to reshape the empire.
“Jardine is going through an evolution,” Pan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “Part of our goal today is to set out these goalposts so investors and partners have a better sense of where the company is going to go.”
The company has set a goal of achieving at least US$200 million in profit after tax and minority interests from new acquisitions, according to the statement. It will be targeting firms based in the Asia Pacific with market-leading positions and the ability to adopt technology including artificial intelligence.
The group is seeking to invest more in developed markets to balance risks in existing operations with a heavy reliance on single regions like Indonesia, Pan said in the interview.
It is also looking to put more capital into the engineering and infrastructure sector to better capture opportunities in Hong Kong as the city sets out to build new towns including a mega tech hub in its northern territories, Pan said.
To fund its investments, the group is planning to recycle at least US$4 billion capital from its portfolio companies, excluding its property unit and Indonesian conglomerate, through 2030.
Jardine is actively looking at deals as part of its overhaul. Its restaurant unit has been seeking to sell its KFC and Pizza Hut chains in Asian markets including Hong Kong and Taiwan, attracting bidders including Carlyle Group and Yum China Holdings, Reuters reported in May.
The company is also exploring a sale of its car dealership in Malaysia and Singapore, Bloomberg News has reported. It has also put at least US$1.8 billion worth of Hong Kong property up for sale over the past year, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
The group is still considering more asset sales, including the remainder of an office tower in Hong Kong which was partly sold to Alibaba Group and Ant Group for HK$7.2 billion (S$1.2 billion), as well as the company’s Mercedes-Benz dealership business in Hong Kong and Macau, Bloomberg News reported in May. BLOOMBERG
