Li’s HK tower sells for record RM22b

SydneyLi Ka-Shing’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd sold its 75% holding in The Center to a Chinese-led group for HK$40.2 billion (RM21.71 billion), a record for a Hong Kong office tower, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported.

The deal will be announced in the near future, the Economic Journal reported, without saying where it got the information. Some domestic investors are also part of the consortium, the newspaper said. Representatives at CK Asset didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

CK Asset shares rose as much as 3.2% in early trading, and were up 2.4% to HK$66.35 at 9:57am Hong Kong time yesterday.

The deal is the latest to signal Hong Kong’s red-hot property market shows no signs of slowing down. LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment Co last week announced the HK$9 billion purchase of a building from Wheelock & Co a record per-sq-ft price for a commercial building in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong area.

Earlier this year, Henderson Land Development Co paid HK$23.3 billion for the first commercial land to be sold by the government in the Central district in more than 20 years. For CK Asset, which recently changed its name from CK Property the proceeds would give the company funds to diversify away from its main real-estate business. CK Asset and affiliate CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd earlier this year agreed to buy a German maker of smart meters for about €4.5 billion (RM22.36 billion), building on the company’s expansion in infrastructure and energy.

CK Asset’s properties, which include the Cheung Kong Center and Hutchison House, spanned about 17 million sq ft (1.6 million sq m) as of June, with more than 80% located in Hong Kong, according to the company.

The 73-storey building in the Central business district (CBD) is the city’s fifth-tallest, according to the Skyscraper Center. — Bloomberg