By Kelvin Wong and Patricia Kuo
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Shun Tak Holdings Ltd. and Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd. sold 59 apartments in Macau to a property
investment fund for HK$673.4 million ($89 million).
Macau Property Opportunities Fund Ltd. bought the apartments in the One Central Residences project, Shun Tak and Hongkong Land said in a press release today. The transaction represented a selling price of about HK$4,550 per square foot, the statement said.
Macau's economy expanded 18 percent in the first half on growing tourist and gambler spending. The former Portuguese colony is poised to overtake the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest gaming hub this year.
``The acquisition gives the company excellent exposure to the Macau luxury residential sector,'' David Hinde, chairman of the fund, said in the statement.
The project is expected to be completed between 2008 and 2009, Shun Tak Chief Financial Officer Daisy Ho said in a press
conference earlier this month. Hong Kong accounting rules require builders to book profit only when the projects are
completed. The transaction will be settled in cash.
Macau Property Opportunities Fund agreed not to sell the apartments before the end of 2009, the statement said.
Today's deal is the project's second sale. The companies on Nov. 1 announced it had sold 68 apartments in the project to
Sjova-Almennar Tryggingar hf, an Icelandic insurer, for HK$782 million. The selling price for that transaction was about
HK$4,400 per square foot.
The rest of the apartments will be offered for public purchase ``within the next few weeks,'' Hongkong Land Executive
Director Robert Wong said in the press conference earlier this month.