DBS Bank buys entire 75th floor in The Center, extending foray into Hong Kong property market

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The latest purchase from ‘Cassette King’ Chan increases DBS’s ownership to 11 floors in what was once the world’s most expensive tower

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The exterior view of The Center building in Central, once the world’s most expensive office tower. Photo: Nora Tam

Salina Li

Published: 4:42pm, 8 Nov 2024

DBS Group Holdings, Singapore’s biggest lender, is taking advantage of a property slump to expand its business in Hong Kong by picking more office space in what used to be the world’s most expensive office tower.

Local unit DBS Bank (Hong Kong) paid HK$646 million (US$83.1 million), or HK$27,028 per square foot, for the entire 75th floor in The Center located in the central business district on November 6, according official records. It earlier paid HK$700 million, or HK$26,000 per square foot, for the 66th floor in September.

David Chan Ping-chi, a Hong Kong tycoon known as the “Cassette King”, was the seller in both transactions. He owned seven floors in the tower as part of a consortium that acquired the assets from Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings for a record HK$40.2 billion more than six years ago.

The latest purchase represents an 18 per cent discount to the 2018 price. Mobile phone carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) currently occupies the 75th floor at a monthly rent of HK$1.46 million in a lease expiring in June 2027, official records showed. DBS will boost its ownership to 11 floors in the tower after this deal.

DBS Group’s earnings surpassed S$3 billion for the first time last quarter. Photo: Reuters

DBS did not immediately reply to a request for comment.