Cheung Kong, the business empire of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing, announced late Tuesday that it is buying Britain's Eversholt Rail Group for �2.5 billion ($3.8 billion).

Eversholt is one of Britain's three main rail rolling stock companies, owning around 28 percent of the country's passenger trains.

British private equity fund 3i Infrastructure confirmed that it and Eversholt's other investors, including Morgan Stanley, had all sold their stakes to Cheung Kong.

"We are very happy to enter into this new industry," said Cheung Kong Holdings' managing director Victor Li, the elder son of Li Ka-Shing.

"The rolling stock leasing business adds a new facet to our transportation business portfolio," he added.

The deal will see Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI), and its parent Cheung Kong Holdings take 50 percent each in the train company.

Eversholt is CKI's third acquisition in the past six months, following investments in Canadian off-airport car park business Park'N Fly in July and the acquisition of Australian gas distribution company Envestra in October.

Cheung Kong said it expected the deal to be finalised in March.

The company said there were strong growth prospects in the British rail industry, with "more people and more goods than ever... being moved by train in the country".

Eversholt owns some 3,500 passenger trains along with more than 80 freight locomotives and nearly a thousand freight wagons. It was set up in 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail.

Li had been Asia's richest man since 2012, but the 86-year-old was surpassed in December by Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Bloomberg News reported.

Billionaire Li announced a sweeping re-arrangement of his vast business empire earlier this month.

Cheung Kong Holdings, his flagship firm, will take over its separately quoted subsidiary Hutchison Whampoa and the combined entity will be split into two, creating a focused property firm and an international conglomerate, including interests in telecoms, utilities and ports.

The revamp is also expected to pave the way for Li's retirement and comes amid speculation of a handover to his son Victor.

Li, who is worth $28.2 billion according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, started out in business as a plastic flower-maker.