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SCMP Reporter

LITTLE is known of the business side of Allan Zeman in Hong Kong except for the high-profile transformation of Lan Kwai Fong from a rubbish collection centre in the 1970s to the present glitzy nightclub district.

Always a high profile businessman in Hong Kong, Mr Zeman is in the news amid reports from Australia of share purchases in Australian retail giant Coles Myers to prop up the company's share price.

Mr Zeman bought shares in Coles when its share price was allegedly being propped up by Coles itself and before a A$1.2 billion (about HK$7 billion) sale of stock by United States store chain Kmart which held a 21.5 per cent stake in Coles.

  Mr Zeman denies being involved in a scheme to prop up Coles' shares.

Canadian-born Mr Zeman moved to Hong Kong 23 years ago and entered the garment industry after opening a company in Canada at the age of 19.

In Hong Kong, he has flourished. But since his business empire is not publicly listed, it is difficult to get hard numbers about the size and revenues of his clothing operation, his operations in Lan Kwai Fong or the scope of a shipyard he started.

His interest in shipping hit the news in 1993, when his $20 million yacht Zea Breeze II was stolen and was reported to have ended up being used as a floating casino in the South China Sea.

The 26-metre three-deck yacht was a popular rendezvous for many visiting pop stars, including Paul Simon, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown and Simply Red's Mick Hucknell.

By the time it was tracked down and returned to him this year, Mr Zeman had a new 30-metre high-technology yacht - designed by a leading Italian boat designer - being built in the shipyard he owns in Taiwan.

He hit on the hospitality industry after younger employees complained there was nowhere for them to go at night in Hong Kong.

Mr Zeman saw an opportunity in Lan Kwai Fong in the mid-1980s, opening California, which was successful, and paid HK$35 million for the California Entertainment Building in 1985.

He continued buying property in the area in the mid-1980s, when other investors, alarmed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, were only too eager to sell and prices were low.

He set up a shipyard in 1988, while continuing to develop his garment businesses.

According to Lan Kwai Fong Tenants Association chairman Richard Feldman, the area has not suffered anywhere near as much from the current slump in demand despite the general malaise in the restaurant and retail sector.

Mr Feldman, installed as association chairman after the Lan Kwai Fong tragedy on New Year's Eve in 1992 in which 20 people were crushed to death in an out-of-control crowd, said Mr Zeman had thrown himself behind the development of new business in the area.

As a major landlord - Mr Zeman estimated last year that he owned between 65 per cent and 70 per cent of the property and retail, restaurant and bar outlets in the area - Mr Zeman is a powerful force.

According to one real estate agent who declined to be identified, Mr Zeman's strategy in Lan Kwai Fong has seen the area develop into a base for operations which cannot afford rents in Central.

One real estate agent estimates Mr Zeman's California Entertainment Building is worth about $280 million to $300 million, leaving him with a minimum 700 per cent appreciation in value since he bought it in 1985.



King of Lan Kwai Fong a mystery man