When the Housing Authority re-launches the Link Reit next year, it is important that the interests of the original 510,000 investors be taken care of.
This may mean that the structure of the sale should be changed. In the first attempt, just like any global offerings, there were four types of investors in the Link Reit: strategic, cornerstone, international and local. The first two categories would have received their units through a relatively preferential placement process, and the latter two through a public offering process, which is more risky to investors in terms of allocation certainty.
In a radio interview, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung expressed his reluctance to give the original would-be unit-holders any preferential treatment. I could understand that if the second sale is to be through a public offering process again. However, the authority should consider treating the 510,000 original investors the same way as it handles the strategic and cornerstone investors.
When the Link Reit is relaunched, the authority should first place with these investors the units that they should have been entitled to. They should be exempt from the cost and trouble of going through a public offering process again. Units should only be offered for public subscription if they fail to take them up.
The authority should not upset the 510,000 original investors again. They have done nothing wrong.
LI SHU-KAN, Mid-Levels
