Backgrounder: Li Ka-shing's business empire

Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing has revamped the holdings of his two flagship companies, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, in an effort to create better value for shareholders.

The two new companies, CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH) and Cheung Kong Property Holdings (CK Property), will be listed on the Hong Kong bourse.

CKH will hold all of the non-property businesses of Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa, including ports and related services, telecommunications, retail, infrastructure, energy and movable assets leasing operations (aircraft leasing).

CK Property will combine the property businesses of Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and overseas.

Following are the major events of Li Ka-shing's business empire:

In 1950, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company in Hong Kong with 50,000 HK dollars (6,452 U.S. dollars) borrowed from family and friends.

In 1958, Li entered the property market by purchasing a 12- story building in North Point, Hong Kong. The building was named Cheung Kong Building.

In 1972, Cheung Kong Holdings was publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company invested massively in Hong Kong's property market over the past four decades and has become one of the major developers in Hong Kong.

In 2013, Cheung Kong Holdings and partners bought AVR Afvalverwerking BV from Van Gansewinkel Groep BV for 943.7 million euros (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) to add waste processing in Europe. The deal gave Li control of AVR Afvalverwerking BV, which boasts the largest waste treatment capacity in Europe.

In 2014, Cheung Kong Holdings paid 1.89 billion U.S. dollars to buy 35 planes from companies including General Electric Co's aviation services unit to enter the aircraft leasing market.

Net assets of Cheung Kong Holdings stood at 390.8 billion HK dollars at the end of June in 2014. It is currently a leading multinational conglomerate which operates in over 50 countries and employs more than 280,000 staff worldwide.

Originally Hutchison Whampoa was two separate companies, both founded in the 19th century. Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was established in 1863, and Hutchison International was formed in 1877.

In the 1960s, Hutchison International gained a controlling interest of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock, and in 1977 Hutchison acquired all of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock, creating Hutchison Whampoa.

Although Hutchison Whampoa had a large portfolio of valuable real estate interests, in docks and retail ventures, the company eventually ran into trouble. It was rescued by HSBC, with the bank taking a 22-percent stake in the company.

In 1979, HSBC sold its stake in Hutchison Whampoa to Cheung Kong Holdings for 639 million HK dollars. Li Ka-shing began to serve as chairman of Hutchison Whampoa in 1981.

The company is currently a multinational conglomerate which employs over 270,000 people in over 50 countries across the world. It owned 7.15 million square meters of land reserve in the Chinese mainland and 5,320 hotel rooms worldwide at the end of November 2014.