Hongkong Land, the property flagship of Jardine Matheson, has completed its second share repurchase in 12 months, this time returning about US$295 million to shareholders.
The company said yesterday it had bought back about 165.7 million shares at an average price of US$1.78 a share, representing about 6.7 per cent of total issued capital.
The shares were available as a single block from investment bank UBS Warburg, which had contacted the company with an offer, Hongkong Land finance director Francis Heng said. He did not know the identity of the shareholders.
However, stockbrokers said rumours circulating through the market in the past week named Hong Kong Tobacco chairman Charles Ho Tsu-kwok as a likely seller.
Mr Ho last year inherited a cigarette empire from his grandfather Ho Ying-chie and is believed to owe significant estate taxes on his inheritance. Brokers said rumours were circulating he was unloading assets to free up cash.
Mr Heng acknowledged the share buy-back was not planned and came about because of UBS Warburg's offer.