HUTCHISON WHAMPOA challenged Arun Sarin to put his money where his mouth is just days after the Vodafone chief executive signalled an interest in buying its European mobile assets.

Canning Fok, the managing director of the Hong Kong-based group that owns the 3 mobile businesses, said: “Obviously . . . if someone puts a big fat cheque in front of me . . . I have to consider it.

“Obviously I am not known for selling anything that [is] not expensive,” he said.

“I do not know whether he [Arun Sarin] has the money really. I do not know how much money he has. If someone wants to buy . . . he has to have enough money.”

Mr Fok, who said that Vodafone had not approached him, made his comments despite fresh insistence from Hutchison that it continues to regard its 3 mobile business as a core asset.

Hutchison — which yesterday announced tie-ups with several key internet players including Skype — also revealed that plans for a flotation of 3 had been shelved.

Mr Fok, who has staked his reputation on the success of the 3 brand, said that flotations were “no longer a priority for us”.

“We don’t really need it [an IPO] — now. We are sitting quite pretty and continue to achieve financial performance,” Mr Fok said.

Hutchison, which was among the unsuccessful bidders for Thames Water, was also still keen to snap up infrastructure assets in Europe and beyond.

“For sure — we like infrastructure,” Mr Fok said.

Speculation about the future of 3 has been mounting since the group failed earlier this year to pull off a planned flotation of the company’s Italian business, The Italian flotation was supposed to pave the way for a float of the UK business.

Vodafone fuelled the speculation further this week when it suggested that 3’s mobile assets were a likely target for any mobile player seeking to act as a consolidator in the cut-throat markets of Western Europe.

3’s move to shake up the mobile market with aggressive pricing has failed to bring the level of payback it hoped for. Recent Hutchison results showed that, across the globe, the 3 businesses racked up losses before interest and tax of HK$12 billion (£815 million) in the first half of this year.

Yesterday Mr Fok conceded that the mobile business had not gone entirely according to plan. “If I tell you that it has all gone smoothly I would not be [being] honest. But all these problems can be handled,” he said.

He underlined that the group had proved its critics wrong before with ventures such as the Orange mobile phone business.

Questioned about reports that Orascom, the Egyptian mobile operator, is to sell part of its holdings in Hutchison, Mr Fok said that the move “proves that to be associated with us is good. You make money”.

MOBILE REVOLUTION

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