香港地產大亨入股倫敦住宅項目
Quintain, the London-focused property developer, has paved the way to complete one of the UK capital's largest housing projects after teaming up with Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng Kar-Shun.
以倫敦爲業務重點的房地產開發商Quintain得到香港億萬富豪鄭家純(Henry Cheng Kar-Shun)的支持，從而爲完成倫敦史上最大住宅項目之一鋪平了道路。The company said on Monday that Mr Cheng's Knight Dragon investment vehicle had taken on a 60 per cent stake in its £3bn Greenwich Peninsula development. Knight Dragon agreed to buy Australian developer Lend Lease out of its 50 per cent stake in the project and take over 10 per cent of Quintain's half share.
該公司週一表示，鄭家純旗下投資工具Knight Dragon已在其30億英鎊的開發項目Greenwich Peninsula中持有60%的股權。Knight Dragon同意買下澳大利亞開發商Lend Lease在該項目所持50%股權，併購入Quintain所持10%股權的一半。Under the terms of the deal, Knight Dragon will inject £150m of cash into the Thames side scheme and provide a £300m credit facility. Quintain, which will not have to invest any new capital, will continue to manage the project, generating it about £4m a year in fees.
按照交易條款，Knight Dragon將向泰晤士河畔的這一項目注入1.5億英鎊的現金，並提供3億英鎊的信貸安排。無需注入新資本的Quintain，將繼續管理這一項目，這將爲其產生每年約400萬英鎊的收費收入。
The deal is the latest example of a foreign institution buying into the London property market. Overseas investors, particularly from Asia and the Middle East, have poured billions of pounds into buying up offices and apartments in the capital as they seek out low risk, income producing assets.
上述交易是海外機構投資倫敦地產市場的最新案例。海外投資者（尤其是亞洲和中東的投資者）爲尋找低風險且產生穩定收入的資產，已投入鉅額資金購買倫敦的寫字樓及公寓。News of the joint venture, which is likely to accelerate the ambitious project to deliver 10,000 homes as well as shops, hotels and schools, sent Quintain's shares up 19 per cent in morning trading to 39.25p.
上述合資項目的消息，可能會加快這一雄心勃勃的項目的進度，按照計劃，該項目將提供1萬套住房，還有商店、酒店和學校。受此消息影響，Quintain的股價在早盤交易中上漲19%，至每股39.25便士。Max James, Quintain's chief executive, said the investment from Knight Dragon marked a turning point in his company's bid to unlock the value of the 14m sq ft scheme, which runs along 1.4 miles of the River Thames.
該項目佔地1400萬平方英尺，沿着泰晤士河綿延1.4英里。Quintain首席執行官馬克思•詹姆士(Max James)表示，Knight Dragon的投資標誌着Quintain在試圖釋放該項目價值的過程中，達到了一個轉折點。"We were presented with the opportunity take on a partner for the project and we are delighted with the outcome. This is the transformational deal the market has been looking for us to do," he added.
他補充說，"我們在這個項目上得到了一個機會，獲得了一位合作伙伴，我們對這樣的結果感到滿意。這是市場一直以來期待我們進行的轉型交易。"The tie-up was well received by property analysts, many of whom have been critical about the slow progress Quintain was making on developing the Greenwich site, which it has held for 10 years.
雙方的"聯姻"受到了地產分析師的歡迎，其中許多人曾批評Quintain在開發倫敦格林尼治的這個地塊方面進度緩慢。該公司獲得這個地塊已有10年。"This is a game changer for the company and, to be honest, I am a bit surprised the shares are only up 20 per cent," said Harm Meijer at JPMorgan.
摩根大通(JPMorgan)的哈姆•梅傑爾(Harm Meijer)表示，"對Quintain而言，這是一件改變遊戲規則的大事。老實說，股價只上漲20%有些出乎我的意料。"Mr Cheng's backing is likely to be seen as a vote of confidence in London's already booming property market.
鄭家純的支持可能被看成是對已經很繁榮的倫敦地產市場投出的一張信任票。Mr Cheng, 65, only recently took over the chairmanship of the family's two listed flagships – New World Development and Chow Tai Fook – when his 86-year father Cheng Yu-tong decided to retire in February.
65歲的鄭家純在今年2月86歲的父親鄭裕彤(Cheng Yu-tong)決定退休之後，才正式接過鄭氏家族兩大旗艦上市公司——新世界發展(New World Development)和周大福(Chow Tai Fook)——的董事長之職。Like most Hong Kong developers, the bulk of the Cheng's experience in property development is derived locally and from mainland China, two markets where residential and commercial property prices have soared in recent years.
和香港的許多地產開發商一樣，鄭氏家族在地產開發領域的大部分經驗都來自香港本地以及中國內地。近年來，香港和中國內地的住宅及商用房產價格出現了大幅飆升。
