Citic Securities land purchase in Shenzhen stirs CLSA

There was some interest among CLSA staffers recently following an announcement by Citic Securities on the Hong Kong stock exchange website. It says Citic has spent 3.5 billion yuan (HK$4.4 billion) buying a plot of land in Shenzhen which will be developed as the "Citic Securities Shenzhen headquarters base project".

The site is an enormous 31,463 square metres, according to the Shenzhen city government's announcement.

The stock exchange announcement goes on to say: "Following the completion of the acquisition of CLSA, the company intends to base in Shenzhen in order to enhance its domestic and overseas business development and communication, and establish International Conference Centre as the permanent venue for CLSA Global Forum."

Does this mean that CLSA will be shifting its headquarters to Shenzhen to be able to participate more intimately with Citic in its "international development strategy?"

While people at CLSA did not in principle seem opposed to the idea of living and working in Shenzhen, there were some logistical issues to consider, such as where to keep one's Ferrari. A cross-border licence plate can cost between 300,000 and 700,000 yuan.

However, Simone Wheeler, CLSA's head of corporate communications, said the firm would remain in Hong Kong and there were no plans to shift its investor forum to Shenzhen.