Charles Li, the ‘Mr China’ behind the US$36.6 billion bid for London Stock Exchange, isn’t giving up on his audacious plan

Charles Li, the chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), made an unexpected US$36.6 billion bid to buy the London Stock Exchange

Li spent 16 years in investment banking before being tapped to head Asia’s third-biggest stock exchange

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Charles Li Xiaojia, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), gives a speech at the Hong Kong Securities Institute, at the Exchange Square in Central on 25 July 2019. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 11:57am, 24 Sep 2019Updated: 11:57am, 24 Sep 2019

Charles Li is at it again: trying to persuade doubters that a one-time oil rigger who grew up on the fringes of the Gobi desert is the right buyer for a centuries-old British institution.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) chief executive officer succeeded the first time, when the Asian bourse bought the London Metal Exchange in 2012. As with that deal, the odds are stacked against him following the initial rebuff by the London Stock Exchange Group to his US$36.6 billion offer and questioning by China’s state media.

But that could suit the style of the first Chinese national to run the exchange. Having earned the nickname “Mr. China” for tying the company closer to the mainland, Li is described by current and former colleagues as relentless and with little tolerance for naysayers. He has dispatched senior HKEX officials, including co-president Romnesh Lamba, to meet LSE shareholders in London and New York, according to people with knowledge of the matter. An HKEX spokeswoman declined to comment.

Li is “a typical investment banker, hungry for money and opportunities,” said Stephen Hui, a former HKEX board member. “He works with a can-do attitude, and will not stop until he absolutely tries everything.”

The formula has worked for years, for both the exchange and its 58-year-old CEO. Now, after a firm refusal from LSE’s management, it may be up against its toughest test yet.