Swire Group, a long-established British company, is planning to sell its commercial buildings in prime locations in Hong Kong for a rumored purchase price of HK$10 billion. In recent years, Swire has sold many commercial real estate projects, plus the recent large-scale layoffs of Swire’s Cathay Pacific Airways and the suspension of its Cathay Pacific Dragonair airline, the news has led to speculation about Swire’s divestment.
Swire Pacific and Swire Properties suspended trading on Wednesday morning (28th) and announced at noon that Swire Properties was in discussions that could lead to the sale of its interest in 1111 King’s Road, Taikoo Shing, but said no agreement had been reached on the sale and trading resumed in the afternoon with a slight fall in share price.
There are reports that a consortium is in talks to buy 1111 King’s Road, an office building at Cityplaza in Cityplaza, for nearly HK$10 billion. According to public records, Cityplaza One was completed in 1997, with a total area of 628,000 square feet in a 27-story building. In 2018, Swire Properties sold part of Cityplaza 3 and all of Cityplaza 4 for HK$15 billion.
Swire has been selling commercial properties for a decade, including Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong in 2011, and last year it sold its interest in a commercial building at 625 King’s Road in Quarry Bay.
Last week, Cathay Pacific Airways, a subsidiary of the Swire Group, announced an unprecedented massive layoff of 8,500 jobs and the suspension of its subsidiary Cathay Pacific Dragonair, with the remainder of its staff having to sign new contracts and take significant pay cuts.
Swire’s Chairman, Mr. John Swire, said at the company’s results conference in August this year that while the situation in Hong Kong is undeniably volatile, the company is taking a long-term view of its business goals. The company has no plans to divest and leave Hong Kong, but will remain focused on Hong Kong and Mainland China.
However, some economic scholars said to this station, since the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the British enterprises fade out of Hong Kong, replaced by Chinese capital, is bound to happen.
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