Lai Lixin, former executive director and vice-president at Evergrande
Mainland homebuilder Evergrande has purchased a 1,982-unit residential site in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun area from Henderson Land Development, according to information from the city’s company registry.
China’s second-largest developer by sales is now the owner of the project company for the site in the New Territories, the document shows. The deal was originally reported by local newspaper Ming Pao, and a later account in Apple Daily reports that Evergrande paid HK$6.6 billion ($844 million) for the site.
The deal marks the second time this month that Henderson has sold a Hong Kong asset to a major mainland corporate, bringing in a total of more than HK$16.5 billion for the developer.
Henderson Buys at HK$5.5B, Sells at HK$6.6B
In this latest transaction, Henderson is selling off a 26,190 square foot (2,433 square metre) parcel, Tuen Mun Town Lot No 500, located at Kwun Chui Road in the residential town in the northwest part of the city.
Henderson had snapped up the lot at a government tender in June 2015, paying a premium of HK$3.6 billion ($468 million), or HK$4,621 ($596) per square foot of gross floor area for the site. Planning for the project allows for a maximum buildable floor area of 785,000 square feet (72,929 square metres), and the project was approved for construction of 1,982 apartment units last year.
The Tuen Mun sale comes just three weeks after the Henderson was revealed as having agreed to sell a newly completed office tower in Hong Kong’s North Point to a unit of mainland financial giant China Taiping Insurance Group for HK$9.95 billion.
Evergrande Now in Charge of Tuen Mun Project
Martin Lee, son of Lee Shau Kee, was a director at Fortune Choice Development Limited
The project company, Fortune Choice Development Limited, is now controlled by Evergrande’s management team, with a document from the city’s company registry acquired by Mingtiandi listing the company’s directors as Chen Fen, Lai Lixin and Wang Rong. Chen is the deputy general manager at Evergrande’s Hong Kong arm, while Lai is a former executive director and vice-president of the mainland builder.
Evergrande did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Last June, an adjacent parcel was purchased by a joint venture of Shenzhen Investment and Road King Infrastructure for HK$3.17 billion (US$406.2 million), or HK$6,700 ($859) per square foot.
Top 5 Mainland Builder Ramps Up Hong Kong Presence
The transaction marks the second move by Guangzhou-based Evergrande to invest in Hong Kong’s real estate market in recent years. In 2015, the mainland developer set a record for the acquisition of the Mass Mutual Tower (now China Evergrande Centre) in Wanchai from Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates for HK$12.5 billion ($1.61 billion).
Evergrande further strengthened its Hong Kong ties last year, when Chinese Estates acquired a five percent stake in the company over the course of several months for a total price of HK$8.1 billion ($1.04 billion).
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