Advertisement
Hong Kong property
Business

China Evergrande’s Hong Kong headquarters remains on auction block as Jack Ma-linked entity gets naming rights

  • Speculation of a sale after nine months arose after Yunfeng Financial announced a name change for the 27-storey tower in Wan Chai
  • Sole agent says no buyer has been found for the building, which Evergrande paid US$1.6 billion for in 2015

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
2
China Evergrande Centre in Wan Chai, pictured in 2021, will be renamed YF Life Centre. Photo: Sam Tsang
Lam Ka-singandPeggy Sito

China Evergrande Group’s Hong Kong headquarters building – once a US$1.6 billion jewel in the developer’s crown – remains without a buyer after nine months on the auction block, despite speculation that a sale was imminent after an exchange filing revealed a name change for the tower.

Advertisement

Rumours of a sale flared up after Yunfeng Financial notified the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 23 that the 27-storey building, on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, would change names from China Evergrande Centre to YF Life Centre.

YF Life Insurance International is a member of publicly listed Yunfeng Financial Group, whose major shareholders include Yunfeng Financial Holdings and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Yunfeng is backed by Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.

China Evergrande Group’s creditors put the building on the market in September to recover their debt as the cash-strapped developer struggled to restructure about US$300 billion of liabilities. At the time, property experts said the asset would fetch at least HK$10.7 billion (US$1.36 billion).
Evergrande paid US$1.6 billion, or a then-record HK$36,187 per square foot, to acquire the building, then known as Mass Mutual Tower, from developer Chinese Estates Holdings in late 2015.
The 27-storey China Evergrande Center in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Photo: Handout
The 27-storey China Evergrande Center in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

The building has not been sold, Savills, the property agent appointed by the property’s receivers as the sole agent for the sale, said when contacted by the Post on Monday.

Advertisement