HONG KONG (Bloomberg) ? Companies controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, who made a hostile attempt to buy control of Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd. in the 1980s, cut their stake in their former target, Hongkong Land said.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and unit Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. cut their Hongkong Land stake to less than a "notifiable" three percent, the Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. unit said in a statement on the London Stock Exchange this week. It didn't give the new stake. Li's companies previously owned 3.9 percent. Laura Cheung, spokeswoman for Hutchison, declined to comment.

Li led a takeover attempt on Hongkong Land in 1984. After the effort failed, Li agreed not to attempt another takeover for a decade. In 1986, Jardine Matheson set up Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd., with which it has cross-shareholdings, in part to protect its control of Hongkong Land, one of the largest office and retail landlords in Hong Kong's business hub.

Hutchison, which invests in ports, telecommunications and retailing worldwide, and Cheung Kong, a Hong Kong real estate developer, increased their stake in Hongkong Land to 3.9 percent in 1997, the same stake the companies reported holding in September 2004, according to the Hongkong Land statement.

Most Jardine group companies moved their main Asian listing to Singapore from Hong Kong a decade ago to avoid the jurisdiction of Hong Kong's takeover code. Singapore allows Jardine to follow Bermuda law, which makes a takeover more difficult.