Jiayuan Receivers Said to Sell New Territories Office Complex to Singaporean Fund

A Hong Kong office complex marketed by the receivers for liquidating builder Jiayuan International has sold for just under the guide price, according to local media accounts that point to an unnamed Singaporean buyer.

Located at San Hop Lane in the New Territories’ Tuen Mun area, One Vista comprises a 10-storey building with offices, a retail podium and a car park spanning 79,504 square feet (7,386 square metres) of gross floor area and a 30-storey building with 320 office units ranging from 478 square feet to 3,098 square feet. The former industrial buildings were redeveloped by a joint venture of Nanjing-based Jiayuan and Stan Group, the family firm of Hong Kong “Shop King” Tang Shing-bor.

News website HK01 reported that the receivers had sought HK$1.5 billion for One Vista and that an unidentified Singaporean fund acquired the asset for more than HK$1.4 billion ($180 million) — a story met with disbelief by market sources who spoke to Mingtiandi.

Market analysts cast doubt on the nature of the reported transaction, noting that at close to HK$6,000 per square foot, investors might be able to acquire office assets on Hong Kong island, with renovated industrial properties like One Vista could be expected to bring a lower value under current market conditions.

Another told Mingtiandi that investors are only looking for “core location” distressed assets.

Two Became One

One Vista originated from two Tang-owned properties, Oi Sun Centre and the Gold Sun Industrial Building, which were combined into a single development. In 2018, Tang bundled One Vista with two other Hong Kong properties and sold roughly 70 percent to Jiayuan for HK$2.6 billion, according to a 2020 Forbes interview with the investor, who died in 2021.

Located a three-minute walk from Tuen Mun MTR station, One Vista launched for sale in November 2018 with strata units priced from HK$5,834 to HK$10,004 per square foot. The first batch of 64 units sold for HK$340 million by the end of that year, with the highest price of HK$11,315 per square foot paid by an unnamed buyer for a 779 square foot office, Ming Pao Finance reported at the time.

The buildings at 1 and 3 San Hop Lane went on the market earlier this month under a sealed-bid exercise conducted by CBRE and concluded Wednesday. No indicative price was disclosed.

New government incentives were expected to make One Vista more attractive to foreign investors despite the down market, according to Darren Yan, associate director for investment property and private office on CBRE Hong Kong’s capital markets team.

“The relaunch of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), which now includes non-residential real estate investment as an eligible asset, has generated strong interest from investors looking to invest in Hong Kong for immigration purposes or to expand their overseas business and asset portfolio,” Yang said in a release announcing the exercise.

Wind-Up in Progress

Liquidators for Jiayuan, formerly led by chairman and controlling shareholder Shum Tin Ching, were ordered by a Hong Kong court to begin winding up the company in May of last year.

Mingtiandi reported in February that the company’s 63 percent stake in a 10.8 million square foot commercial and residential project in Qingdao had been taken over by a mainland company, throwing doubt on the legal reach of offshore liquidators in seizing onshore assets.

Hong Kong-listed Jiayuan’s stakeholders have made an estimated RMB 30 billion ($4.2 billion) in total claims against the company, comprising public bonds, private debts, financial guarantees and other contingent liabilities, according to a January filing.

In April, a pair of ageing buildings in the Tsim Sha Tsui area were seized from the Tang family as Hong Kong lenders began to signal impatience with overstretched property owners. That same month, the clan sold two retail units in the Camel Paint Building in Kwun Tong at a reported price of HK$150 million, representing a 59 percent discount to acquisition cost.