Wing Tai and Hong Kong consortium tie up deal on 66 Shoe Lane
Wing Tai has teamed up with a group of fellow Hong Kong investors to exchange contracts on Deloitte’s Midtown offices at 66 Shoe Lane, EC4, in a deal worth £255m.
A consortium that includes Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group’s Francis Lui and the brother of former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa has agreed to buy the 11-storey office building previously known as Athene Place.
Wing Tai emerged as a frontrunner to buy the City of London site from Henderson Park and Endurance Land late last year. Yesterday, the company confirmed that it had exchanged on the site via a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Wing Tai has teamed up with a group of fellow Hong Kong investors to exchange contracts on Deloitte’s Midtown offices at 66 Shoe Lane, EC4, in a deal worth £255m.
A consortium that includes Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group’s Francis Lui and the brother of former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa has agreed to buy the 11-storey office building previously known as Athene Place.
Wing Tai emerged as a frontrunner to buy the City of London site from Henderson Park and Endurance Land late last year. Yesterday, the company confirmed that it had exchanged on the site via a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Investors in the consortium include 31% stakeholder Top Paramount, which is controlled by Tung Chee-chen, brother of Tung Chee-hwa.
Meanwhile, Wing Tai and Sparkle Delight, a company held by Galaxy Entertainment’s Francis Lui, hold 21% each. Champion REIT holds a 27% stake.
The building, which contains more than 157,000 sq ft of office space, is let to Deloitte. According to investor documents, the buyers see it as an attractive proposition because of its recent refurbishment and proximity to the upcoming Crossrail Tube line.
“The directors believe that the formation of the joint venture company to acquire the property provides an opportunity for the group to expand and diversify its property investment portfolio and generate a steady flow of rental income to the group,” said Wing Tai’s statement.
It added that the terms of the binding agreement are “fair and reasonable, and the entry into the joint venture is in the interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole.”
The deal is set to go through fully in April. CBRE and Eastdil are advising Henderson Park on the deal.
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Photo: 66 Shoe Lane
