Li Ka-shing sells The Center in US$5.15 billion record deal to trim his flagship’s Hong Kong assets

Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s wealthiest tycoon and chairman of CK Asset Holdings, has parted ways with the tallest building in his property portfolio, selling The Center tower for a record HK$40.2 billion (US$5.15 billion) to a consortium of the city’s investors and buyers from mainland China, marking what could be the world’s most expensive real estate transaction.

The buyer of the 73-storey tower, Hong Kong’s fifth-tallest building, is identified as C.H.M.T. Peaceful Development Asia Property, incorporated under in the British Virgin Islands, according to the stock exchange filings of Li’s flagship company CK Asset Holdings. The consortium’s largest shareholder is Beijing-based China Energy Reserve & Chemicals Group (CERCG), with a 55 per cent stake, according to property industry sources familiar with the transaction.

“It shows that Hong Kong’s commercial property market is still competitive, and is unlikely to be affected by high prices,” said Vincent Cheung, deputy managing director for Asia Valuation and advisory at Colliers International.

Li, who turns 90 next July, has been seeking to sell the building for at least a year, as he sought to trim his Hong Kong assets. Estimated at more than HK$35 billion by valuers, The Center attracted the attention of a handful of deep-pocketed Chinese buyers including the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), one of the mainland’s largest state-owned lenders.