The number of office units sold in Hong Kong last month rose 39 per cent month on month to a 19-month high of 383 deals, according to Centaline Property Agency. The value of the deals in October rose 44 per cent to HK$4.72 billion. Because of a time lag of about four weeks between property sales and registration, Centaline said the figures reflected market conditions in September, when the US announced the latest round of liquidity easing. Peggy Sito
Shanghai property developer CIFI will start collecting orders from investors from Monday to raise about US$250 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering. Shares are being offered at a price range of HK$1.33 to HK$1.65 apiece, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. Ray Chan
A multibillion-dollar agreement on a Beijing subway line involving MTR Corp was among the deals signed yesterday at the Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Co-operation Symposium in Hong Kong. Beijing MTR Corp will invest 15 billion yuan in the 50 billion yuan (HK$61.5 billion) Beijing Metro Line 14, while MTR Corp will contribute 2.2 billion yuan of equity investment to the project. Toh Han Shih