JD.com to buy stake in Hong Kong’s CCB Tower for HK$3.5 billion

A UNIT of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has agreed to purchase a 50 per cent stake in Hong Kong’s CCB Tower for HK$3.5 billion (S$583.7 million) from Lai Sun Development.

Hong Kong-based Lai Sun Development entered into an agreement to sell the stake in the 27-story office tower to Jasmine Investment Development IV, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, according to a statement on Tuesday night. 

Documents from UK and German authorities have listed Jasmine Investment as a subsidiary of JD.com. 

JD.com is optimistic about its business prospects in Hong Kong, a spokesperson said, without commenting on the transaction. 

Chinese tech companies are taking advantage of Hong Kong’s lackluster commercial real estate market to purchase offices at lower prices.

Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Group said in October that they would acquire part of an office tower for about US$925 million. 

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Office values in the city have plunged more than 50 per cent since their peak in 2018, government data show.

Lai Sun Development, one of the smaller builders being squeezed by the prolonged property downturn, has been seeking to offload assets to improve liquidity. It said early this year that it planned to dispose of about HK$8 billion of assets over the next two years.

Lai Sun Development’s dollar bond climbed about 6 cents to 76.5 cents on the dollar Wednesday morning following media reports on the transaction, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rally is on track for its biggest daily jump since issuance. BLOOMBERG