Sun Hung Kai Properties is to close selling an office tower at Shanghai IFC, Pudong, to HSBC Holdings for as much as five billion yuan next month, as foreign banks embark on an expansion spree in the mainland's larger cities, according to a mainland report.
The acquisition would probably set a record price for grade A office space in Shanghai provided various foreign banks are looking for world-class design development as their headquarters, analysts said.
Victor Lui Ting, an executive director at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, declined comment, saying he would explain details later. HSBC was unavailable for comment.
The office tower is part of a four million square foot, office-retail-hotel and serviced apartment project.
Shanghai IFC, in Lujiazui, the financial centre in Pudong, has three towers, including twin towers at 260 metres and 250 metres and an 85-metre tower. Tower One, comprising 900,000 sq ft of grade A office space, is expected to be completed in 2009. It includes a shopping mall and two luxury hotels managed by the Ritz-Carlton and W Hotels group.
The whole HK$8 billion project is slated for completion in phases from mid-2009 to 2010.
SHKP had agreed to sell an office block to HSBC for five billion yuan, the mainland Oriental Morning Post reported, without indicating its sources. The bank would be awarded the naming rights, the report said.