The deal at One Causeway Bay was announced in October last year (Image: Kohn Pedersen Fox)
Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba and its Ant financial affiliate have completed their $925 million buy of the top 13 floors of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s newly built Causeway Bay commercial tower, helping to boost Hong Kong real estate investment by 12 percent year-on-year during the second half of 2025.
Hong Kong’s non-residential investment market saw 43 deals at a total consideration of HK$21.4 billion ($2.8 billion) from July to December, rising from HK$19.1 billion in the same period of 2024 and spiking from 20 deals valued at HK$12.6 billion in the first half of 2025, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s year-end review. Market drivers included gradual interest rate cuts and attractive pricing across property sectors, the consultancy said in a release.
Office transactions in 2025 accounted for the largest share by investment consideration and deal count, signalling a market that is “somewhat recovering”, said Tom Ko, head of capital markets in Hong Kong for Cushman & Wakefield, which facilitated Alibaba and Ant’s acquisition of levels 21-35 of One Causeway Bay as their local headquarters.
“In fact, the market has seen more end-user buyers purchasing office assets amid attractive pricing, as well as investors bottom-fishing prime office assets in core areas,” Ko said.
Mainland Money Moves Market
As of 8 December, the investment market for non-residential deals exceeding HK$100 million had recorded 63 transactions for the year, with total transaction volume climbing 11 percent from 2024 to reach HK$34 billion, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Jack Ma made his money online, but the company he founded likes to buy buildings (Getty Images)
Mainland Chinese capital accounted for 48 percent of total transaction volume in the second half of 2025, driven by large-ticket self-use purchases including Alibaba and Ant’s big buy and Soochow Securities’ acquisition of 122-126 Queen’s Road Central from Tai Hung Fai for HK$1 billion, the consultancy said.
The transaction for the One Causeway Bay floors closed on 31 December and placed Jardine Matheson-controlled units as sellers in Hong Kong’s two largest office transactions of 2025, after Hongkong Land sold a set of floors in the Exchange Square complex in Central for HK$6.3 million during April.
Cushman & Wakefield expects total investment volume in Hong Kong to pick up steadily and reach roughly HK$40 billion in 2026, driven by local and mainland Chinese capital, Ko said.
Buyout on Track
In a statement last week announcing the successful disposal of the One Causeway Bay floors, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental gave an update on its buyout by parent Jardines after shareholders overwhelmingly approved the takeover in early December.
After a court-mandated sanction hearing on 15 January, the deal is expected to be completed on 19 January, Mandarin Oriental said. The luxury hotel operator plans to delist its shares from the Singapore, London and Bermuda stock exchanges on 20 January.
Last month’s shareholder vote cleared the way for a deal valuing Mandarin Oriental at $4.2 billion on an equity basis, to be financed through cash on the Jardines balance sheet and committed facilities from lenders.
Jardines’ offer price of $3.35 per Mandarin Oriental share represented a more than 52 percent premium to the stock’s closing price of $2.20 on 29 September, the day before the hotelier disclosed that it was considering the sale of its interest in the One Causeway Bay tower.
Mandarin Oriental also plans to pay a special dividend of $0.60 per share from the sale proceeds of the One Causeway Bay assets, which include the building’s rooftop signage and 50 parking spaces.
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