GuocoLand to buy Tianjin site

GuocoLand to buy Tianjin site

By CONRAD RAJ

GUOCOLAND, the Singapore listed arm of Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, which already has a third of its assets in China, is pouring even more money into the country.

It announced yesterday that its wholly owned subsidiary GuocoLand (China) has signed a conditional agreement to purchase a 26,000 square metre site in the city of Tianjin, just south of the Chinese capital of Beijing, for about US$52.5 million.

This is the group's first foray into Tianjin and GuocoChina hopes to develop 153,000 sq m of residential homes and offices on the 50-year leasehold site.

GuocoChina managing director Violet Lee said of the proposed acquisition: 'It underlines our strong commitment to be a major player in China as well as our confidence in the growth of China's economy. This will, in turn, continue to generate demand for quality developments such as those developed by GuocoLand.'

At the end of June last year, the group's assets in China amounted to $816 million, with developments in Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing. Including Tianjin, GuocoChina has about 1.15 million sq m of saleable land in the four cities for development into residential, retail and commercial integrated projects.

The Tianjin deal is conditional on GuocoChina getting approvals from the Tianjin authorities to acquire the company, Tianjin Zhong Xin Ming Shi Real Estate Development Co (Tianjin Zhong Xin), which holds the land use and development rights to the site from its current shareholders Lead Mix Ltd and Reliapoint Ltd. It is also conditional on getting a new business licence from the Tianjin Administration for Industry & Commerce, and other approvals.

The proposed venture by GuocoChina will form part of the overall development of Tianjin's Lao chengxiang area by Hongkong-listed Neo-China Group (Holdings). The area is one of Tianjin's oldest residential districts with a 600-year-old history as a commercial hub.

A major city with a population of over 10 million, half of whom live in the metropolitan area, Tianjin is the economic centre of the Bohai Sea Rim area.