How a Chinese Billionaire Family Is Quietly Expanding Its Empire in Hong Kong
Apr 9, 2021
Bloomberg
Excerpt
A mainland Chinese property family is quietly building a presence in Hong Kong by snapping up land plots and even a prominent local newspaper.
Shenzhen-based Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s Kwok Ying Shing has become one of the most active Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong with a flurry of new purchases. His moves underscore Chinese elites’ growing influence in the former British colony as its status as a global financial hub shows signs of waning.
Kaisa purchased four sites across the city for 7.1 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in 2020, according to an exchange filing. One of its most recent investments was a 50% stake worth 3.2 billion yuan in a residential land plot in the up-and-coming Kai Tak neighborhood previously owned by beleaguered businessman Pan Sutong.
The family’s ambitions go beyond property. Kwok Hiu Ting, the patriarch’s daughter who is in her late 20s, agreed to buy a majority stake in one of Hong Kong’s most-circulated newspapers Sing Tao News Corp Ltd. earlier this year. The deal came as a surprise to many since both Kaisa and its young heiress were little known in Hong Kong.
To be sure, their presence remains small compared with the city’s homegrown property clans, who control industries from telecommunications to supermarket chains. But mainland companies are set to become more dominant as China’s recent assertive policies over Hong Kong give room for them to grow there.
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