Hutchison Whampoa is said to be close to acquiring a West London site from London Transport for a proposed GBP200 million (about HK$2.54 billion) housing scheme which would be the largest of six British investments in five years by the conglomerate.
It is understood that Hutchison Whampoa Europe, a subsidiary of the group's property arm in Britain, will team up with British construction giant Taylor Woodrow, to pay between GBP30 million and GBP40 million for the site. The deal is now in the hands of lawyers and is due to be completed soon.
London Transport put the site up for sale after an outsourcing deal meant that the power generators on it were redundant.
Hutchison plans to build 500 apartments on the site, opposite the company's Albion Wharf project. A portion will be reserved for the government's affordable housing programme.
The Albion Wharf site, formerly home to a high-school, was acquired by Hutchison in 1998.
Edmund Ho Wai-leung, managing director of Hutchison Whampoa Europe, declined to comment on the London Transport deal but stressed that the company was always looking for opportunities to expand in Britain's residential market and possibly the commercial market as well.