Leading Chinese Developer Sells Kai Tak Lot For $HK1.35B

Leading Chinese developer China Overseas Land & Investment (COLI) has sold part of its stake in a plot in Kai Tak, site of the city’s old airport, as the mainland real estate market remains under pressure and subject to cooling measures, Pearl Liu reported for the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Photo Insert: An aerial view of a Kai Tak Lot construction site

COLI said Coli Finance, its wholly controlled subsidiary, sold a 30 percent stake of residential land in Kai Tak for HK$1.35 billion (US$173 million) to Haijian Fund, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Friday.

Haijian Fund is 50 percent owned by a subsidiary of China Construction Bank, one of the major four state-owned banks, and 50 percent owned by China State Construction Engineering Corp., a state-owned construction company, and China Overseas Holding (COHL).

COHL is the parent company of COLI with a 56.09 percent stake. COLI said that the deal “will enable the company to utilize its resources to diversify its investment options and ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the company in the long run … and the net proceeds will be used as general working capital of the company.”

The stake-backed home builder’s move follows in the wake of a series of deals by cash-strapped Chinese developers to sell down shares in their assets in Hong Kong as a way to collect quick money and repay creditors.

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