Hong Kong’s Link Reit makes first move into Shenzhen, paying U$$975 million for shopping centre
- Asia’s biggest property investment trust said it has bought the six-storey Central Walk near a high-speed railway station
Link Reit, the largest property investment trust in Asia, on Wednesday announced that it had bought a shopping mall close to a high-speed railway station in Shenzhen for 6.6 billion yuan (US$975 million).
The six-storey shopping precinct, called Central Walk and located in the central business district of Futian, is the company’s first acquisition in the city. It is its second in the “Greater Bay Area”, which is destined to be China’s innovation and financial powerhouse, embodying President Xi Jinping’s ambition to create a hub to rival Silicon Valley or the Tokyo Bay Area.
“The acquisition will enable us to capture the exponential growth spurred by the high-speed rail link and the Greater Bay Area development,” said George Hongchoy, chief executive officer of Link Asset Management, which runs Link Reit.
“Central Walk is seated in the heart of the city's booming commercial hub. It is strategically located at the juncture of two popular subway lines in Shenzhen and within a five-minute walk from the Futian high speed rail station.”
According to Link Reit’s stock exchange filing, the seller is a company called Central Walk (Barbados).
The shopping centre, with a gross retail floor space of 903,100 square feet, features some of the most trendy brands including Chinese tea room Heytea, clothing retailers Zara and Uniqlo, and smartphone giant Xiaomi’s Mi store.