Citi agrees record deal for its new HK home
Print Edition
CITIGROUP will pay HK$5.43 billion (US$701 million) for its new Hong Kong headquarters, in the largest-ever purchase of a single-block office building in the Asian financial hub.
A unit of developer Wheelock and Co is building the twin One Bay East towers in Kowloon district, with Citi taking the East Tower and insurer Manulife (International) Ltd the West.
The 21-story building will be a hub for Citi’s businesses in Hong Kong, where it employs 5,000 people, making it the biggest employer among foreign banks in the city.
Citi is the fourth major global bank to move its Hong Kong headquarters across the harbor to Kowloon.
In recent years, Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have all moved to the 118-floor International Commerce Center in Kowloon.
Owning the building outright will help Citi protect against Hong Kong’s volatile property market, Weber Lo, Citi Hong Kong’s chief executive, said in an internal memo.
“Our decision to purchase the East Tower of One Bay East underlines our confidence in Hong Kong’s continued growth as a global financial center,” Stephen Bird, Citi’s chief executive for Asia-Pacific, said in a statement.
Hong Kong’s government said in May that it had no intention of easing property cooling measures in the city, where prices have surged nearly 120 percent since 2008 due to an ultra-low interest rate environment, tight supply and abundant liquidity.
Citi said it plans to move to its new home in Kowloon in the second half of 2016.
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