Soho China is mulling a plan to put eight offices towers in Beijing and Shanghai up for sale for an estimated US$8 billion
- The eight towers in Beijing and Shanghai include the Bund Soho, designed by the late Zaha Hadid
- Soho China has already began to offload some of its peripheral assets as it pursues an asset-light strategy
At least eight office towers in Beijing and Shanghai are being discussed as part of the planned sales, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
An initial batch of projects worth as much as US$3 billion is being shopped to potential buyers, the people said. Sovereign wealth funds and private equity groups are among those being approached, one of the people said. Talks are still at an early stage and the final number of projects is still to be decided, the people said.
Shares of Soho China jumped as much as 9.2 per cent in afternoon trading in Hong Kong. Before today, the shares had slumped 18 per cent this year.
The potential sales signal Soho China may be shifting away from the nation’s office market, which has been hit by declining rents and decade-high vacancy rates as economic growth slows. Beijing has suffered one of the biggest declines in office rent yields globally in the past three years, according to Savills Plc.
Soho China didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
