IT perhaps was no coincidence that Gordon Wu Ying-sheung announced plans by Hopewell Holdings to sell billions of dollars of assets, the day before he met HSBC Holdings chairman Sir William Purves.
Mr Wu is managing director of Hopewell and executive chairman of Consolidated Electric Power Asia (Cepa), which will owe HSBC HK$9.5 billion by the end of next month.
To pay off several billion of those debts, next year he expects to sell up to 30 per cent of the first phase of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Zhuhai superhighway and about 25 per cent of the elevated road-and-train project in Bangkok.
But beneath that goal is an even more powerful reason to start selling assets: Hopewell urgently needs to raise capital to continue construction on its partially completed infrastructure projects in the region.
Mr Wu has said that total capital expenditures over the next two years could exceed HK$12.7 billion, and some analysts say he could face a HK$6 billion deficit.
Christopher Li, of Merrill Lynch, said: 'They are in a transitional stage. They keep spending money and nothing is coming in. They need a more balanced cash flow.' Michael Green, executive director of Nomura Research Institute, said: 'The stated time frame for the sale of assets is still quite a long way away. Between now and the end of next year, Hopewell's debts could still be mounting.' Mr Wu is betting he will sell stakes in the completed 122.8 km Guangzhou-Shenzhen highway and the planned Thailand road project at a premium, but analysts wonder whether investors are interested.