Western Australia's largest gas retailer Alinta Energy has been sold to a Hong Kong-based company after abruptly abandoning plans to float on the share market.

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTFE) — owned by the Cheng family — paid an undisclosed sum for the utility, which had been planning to list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) for an estimated $4 billion.

Alinta is currently owned by a group of hedge funds and private equity.

In a statement, the Sydney-headquartered company said the deal would be CTFE's first significant investment in Australia's energy market.

"[CTFE] are committed to ensuring the energy needs of Alinta's customers continue to be met, and intend to grow the business by pursuing value-accretive investment opportunities in the Australian energy markets as they arise," Alinta said in a statement.

Alinta's chief executive Jeff Dimery will remain in his role, along with the senior management team.

CTFE is a private company with investments in more than 50 countries.

The deal is subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

WA's Premier-elect Mark McGowan, whose government will be sworn in tomorrow with Ben Wyatt as energy minister, said it was up to the FIRB to determine whether Alinta would be sold.

However, Mr McGowan drew a comparison between the Alinta deal and the outgoing Barnett government's intended part-sale of Western Power.

"That was one of the reasons I didn't support the sale of Western Power, because inevitably they end up in foreign ownership," he said.

CTFE's 'interesting investment'

Business commentator Tim Treadgold said the $4 billion deal was unlikely to affect local gas customers but could have implications for the national energy sector.

"Perhaps you could read into it that the Cheng family in Hong Kong has decided that Australia might be about to undergo a bit of re-regulation of the energy market and that means more control, or government control over prices," Mr Treadgold said.

He said CTFE was a high-profile company with other investments in Australia and would have been searching for new opportunities.

"The founding father of the firm was at one stage the world's 58th richest man and he was the third richest man in Hong Kong, so the family's extremely wealthy," Mr Treadgold said.

"They're the biggest jewellery dealer in Hong Kong and they're making a very interesting diversionary investment into Australian energy.

"They're seeing something that other people couldn't see."