Soho China aims for asset-light business model by further selling its properties
Chairman of the property firm said except for two iconic Soho buildings in Beijing and Shanghai, he was willing to sell all of his existing properties
Soho China, one of China’s largest commercial property companies, is expanding its co-working space business, as part of the broader drive to transform its business model into one that is asset-light and reliant on rental income.
In a press briefing on Friday, chairman Pan Shiyi, revealed that he will raise the desk number under his co-working space brand – 3Q – to a considerable level, without giving an exact figure. Currently, 18 3Q centres in Beijing and Shanghai offer about 17,000 desks.
Pan said the decision was a result of a year-long study in the US, during which he found disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, to have profoundly changed the way people and the economy work.
He said even an old-lined property company like Soho China had to ride the trend.
“Only those who adapt to sudden changes in life will prosper. So we have seriously re-examined our existing business model, and we’ll go asset-light,” Pan said.
The transformation to the asset-light model has involved successive asset disposals in the past months, including the sale of a Shanghai office-commercial project for 3.57 billion yuan (US$525 billion) in late June, and this week’s announcement of two more properties being put on the block.