Mapletree, PAG to buy seized Hong Kong office tower Goldin Financial Global Centre for $953m
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With the reopening of the border with China and the easing of travel restrictions, Mapletree says it is confident of the recovery of Hong Kong's office market.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Singapore – Singapore real estate group Mapletree Investments and Asia-focused investment firm PAG have agreed to buy a Hong Kong office tower that was once owned by distressed tycoon Pan Sutong for HK$5.6 billion (S$953 million).
The companies will form a 50-50 joint venture to purchase Goldin Financial Global Centre, they announced on Thursday. The tower, located in Kowloon East, had been with receivers since 2020 as Mr Pan and his company Goldin Financial Holdings struggled to repay debts.
The sale price was below the building’s earlier estimated valuation, reflecting bearish sentiment in the local market. Premium office vacant space in the city jumped to a record 13 million sq ft in 2022, according to CBRE Group.
Mr Pan was Asia’s fourth-richest man in 2015 with a net worth of US$27 billion (S$36 billion) before the shares of his company plunged and most of his properties were locked up as collateral for loans. He was ordered by Hong Kong’s High Court to go bankrupt in 2022.
Mr Pan and Goldin Financial racked up around HK$38 billion of debt between May 2017 and September 2020, according to stock exchange filings and data compiled by Bloomberg.
Mr Wong Mun Hoong, Mapletree’s regional chief executive officer for Australia and North Asia, said: “With the reopening of the border with China and the easing of travel restrictions, we are confident of the recovery of the office sector in Hong Kong.”
Goldin Financial Global Centre, which was completed in 2016, has a total lettable area of 886,703 sq ft.
Mapletree owns and manages real estate assets amounting to $78.7 billion as at March 31, 2022, including office space and student accommodation globally. In Hong Kong, it has assets under management totalling $7.5 billion, according to Mapletree.
PAG Real Assets, the real estate business of Hong Kong-based PAG, has been on an acquisition spree, snapping up and managing more than 7,000 properties across the Asia-Pacific region, including office space and logistics hubs, over the past two decades. PAG Real Assets now has more than US$10 billion in equity under management, according to PAG.
“This transaction further expands PAG Real Assets’ footprint in Hong Kong, where we see the ongoing post-Covid-19 recovery creating attractive opportunities for us and our investors,” said PAG president Jon-Paul Toppino. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
