HONG KONG: CK Asset Holdings Ltd., controlled by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is selling its 73-story office tower to C.H.M.T. Peaceful Development Asia Property Ltd. for HK$40.2 billion ($5.2 billion), the world’s biggest ever single property sale.
The acquisition expands the footprint of Chinese investment in the Asian financial hub’s prime office district, where half of all new leasing space has been snapped up by mainland Chinese companies.
Shares in CK Asset Holdings closed up 3.6 percent on Thursday at HK$67.0, their biggest gain since Sept. 8, and have risen more than 40 percent this year, outpacing a 30 percent gain in the Hong Kong market index.
The buyer is a British Virgin Islands-incorporated company, while 55 percent of the investment comes from Beijing-based China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group, according to local media, with the rest coming from Hong Kong investors.
The energy company is a unit of state-owned China Overseas Holding Group, the website of the latter shows. And the deal is the world’s largest for a single building, according to real estate services firm CBRE, confirming Real Capital Analytics data that tracks transactions since 2005.
“The selling price is reasonable ... it’s a positive signal to the market and I expect we’ll see more large transactions of office buildings in Q4,” said Tom Ko, executive director of real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield.
Ko said he expected high-value purchases would be mostly by Chinese investors as they usually buy for self-use purposes, making them more willing to bid aggressively, while local investors would focus on land and redevelopment opportunities.
CK Asset said it expects to record a gain of about HK$14.5 billion from the sale of its 75 percent stake in The Center, the fifth tallest in Hong Kong.
The proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes, it said in a filing to the stock exchange on Wednesday.
The deal comes after mainland developer LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment Co. Ltd. said in October that it would buy an office tower from Wharf (Holdings) Ltd. for HK$9 billion to strengthen its presence in Hong Kong property.
Chinese firms have been expanding aggressively in Hong Kong property, one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets, buying 29 percent of residential land sold in 2015 and 2016.
Property agents said that while tighter capital controls in China had resulted in fewer purchases by mainland Chinese investors in the first half from a year earlier — accounting for around 8 percent of total transactions — mainland companies accounted for 50 percent of new leasing contracts.
Another property consultancy firm Colliers said it expected the office rental market in Hong Kong’s central business district would continue to see strong demand.
“In addition to stable demand from multinational companies, Chinese national initiatives such as the Belt and Road project and the Greater Bay Area plan will continue to support demand from mainland Chinese firms in 2018. We expect new demand to arise predominantly from smaller Chinese firms,” Colliers said in a report last month.
Hong Kong tower sold for a record $5.2bn
Hong Kong tower sold for a record $5.2bn
Saudi Arabia, Japan trade rises 38% between 2016 and 2024, minister says
RIYADH: Trade between Saudi Arabia and Japan has increased by 38 percent between 2016 and 2024 to reach SR138 billion ($36 billion), the Kingdom’s investment minister revealed.
Speaking at the Saudi-Japanese Ministerial Investment Forum 2026, Khalid Al-Falih explained that this makes the Asian country the Kingdom’s third-largest trading partner, according to Asharq Bloomberg.
This falls in line with the fact that Saudi Arabia has been a very important country for Japan from the viewpoint of its energy security, having been a stable supplier of crude oil for many years.
It also aligns well with how Japan is fully committed to supporting Vision 2030 by sharing its knowledge and advanced technologies.
“This trade is dominated by the Kingdom's exports of energy products, specifically oil, gas, and their derivatives. We certainly look forward to the Saudi private sector increasing trade with Japan, particularly in high-tech Japanese products,” Al-Falih said.
He added: “As for investment, Japanese investment in the Kingdom is good and strong, but we look forward to raising the level of Japanese investments in the Kingdom. Today, the Kingdom offers promising opportunities for Japanese companies in several fields, including the traditional sector that links the two economies: energy.”
The minister went on to note that additional sectors that both countries can also collaborate in include green and blue hydrogen, investments in advanced industries, health, food security, innovation, entrepreneurship, among others.
During his speech, Al-Falih shed light on how the Kingdom’s pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka achieved remarkable success, with the exhibition receiving more than 3 million visitors, reflecting the Japanese public’s interest in Saudi Arabia.
“The pavilion also organized approximately 700 new business events, several each day, including 88 major investment events led by the Ministry of Investment. Today, as we prepare for the upcoming Expo 2030, we look forward to building upon Japan’s achievements,” he said.
The minister added: “During our visit to Japan, we agreed to establish a partnership to transfer the remarkable Japanese experience from Expo Osaka 2025 to Expo Riyadh 2030. I am certain that the Japanese pavilion at Expo Riyadh will rival the Saudi pavilion at Expo Osaka in terms of organization, innovation, and visitor turnout.”
Al-Falih also shed light on how Saudi-Japanese relations celebrated their 70th anniversary last year, and today marks the 71st year of these relations as well as how they have flourished over the decades, moving from one strategic level to an even higher one.
