THE announcement on Saturday of the sale of the World Trade Centre to Sun Hung Kai Properties for $2.21 billion capped a week of intense speculation as to the potential buyer's identity.
Shares in the vendor, World Trade Centre Group (WTCG), rose 11 cents to $1 on Friday in the day's highest percentage rise.
For WTCG, the sale means a book profit before expenses of $363 million but the loss of most of its recurrent income in the form of rent.
The profit from the sale represents about 20 cents a share to WTCG, but the sale price was below market expectations and the stock is already approaching its 1992 high of $1.20.
There is also the question of the company's future operations without its main asset.
On Saturday, WTCG general manager David Lee said the company would satisfy the regulators that it would not be a cash shell.