ARA Asset Management, a manager of real estate investment trusts partly owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, is selling its International Capital Plaza in Shanghai for 1.54 billion yuan (HK$1.94 billion), the Beijing Times reports. Singapore-listed ARA Asset Management is in talks with the city state’s Alpha Investment Partners to sell the building in Hongkou district, the newspaper said. Companies in which Li’s family has stakes have sold nearly HK$25 billion in assets on the mainland and in Hong Kong since August last year. The 31-storey International Capital Plaza has 41,493 sq metres in office space and 14,402 sq metres in retail space. ARA Asset Management bought the building for US$176 million in 2011. The firm sold Nanjing IFC for 2.48 billion yuan to Sanpower in December. Through Cheung Kong, the property-based conglomerate he controls, Li owns a 7.84 per cent stake in ARA Asset Management. The largest shareholder is Singapore-based The Straits Trading Co, which owns 20.1 per cent.
