Hong Kong's Link REIT agrees to dispose properties worth nearly HK$23b

[SINGAPORE] Hong Kong's Link Real Estate Investment Trust, one of Asia's largest REIT by market capitalisation, has agreed to sell its properties valued at HK$23 billion (S$3.9 billion), it said on Tuesday.

Link REIT, which owns assets in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as of end-March, is expected to take in net gains of about HK$7.39 billion from the disposals, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

In October, sources told Reuters that Blackstone, KKR , Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital Partners and some Chinese investors were among potential bidders for Link REIT's retail assets.

Link REIT did not mention names of any buyers in its statement on Tuesday.

The asset sale comes against the backdrop of Chinese firms aggressively buying land in Hong Kong, one of the world's most expensive real estate markets, gobbling up 29 per cent of the land sold in 2015 and 2016. That trend has continued in 2017.

REUTERS