Cheung Kong No 2 said joint venture was a bad deal, says ex-LDC chief
Ex-LDC chief quotes Victor Li's remark, but says it was a good deal for the corporation
Cheung Kong's No 2 man is set to testify today in defence of an HK$23 million claim by the Urban Renewal Authority over their joint venture to build The Center, but he has already been cited calling it a "bad deal" before he even takes the stand.
The revelation on Victor Li Tzar-kuoi's opinion of the 1989 joint venture came from the testimony of Abraham Razack, former chief executive of the Land Development Corporation, URA's predecessor.
The URA is suing Cheung Kong and its subsidiary Agrila for HK$23 million in outstanding payment over the purchase of the land on which The Center, a 346-metre steel skyscraper in Central, was built.
Razack was testifying in the High Court yesterday for Cheung Kong rather than his former employer LDC. The real estate and construction lawmaker skipped the Legislative Council's policy address Q&A session to attend the court proceedings.
Li made the "bad deal" comment during the 1997 financial crisis when the Hong Kong property market was badly hit, Razack said, but it was a good deal for LDC because it was guaranteed HK$1.9 billion in profits.
"The whole market went down to the extent that we felt very lucky to be isolated in the financial crisis," Razack said.