Hong Kong Lawmakers Meet on Henderson's Collapsed Sale of 20 Apartments

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council today holds its first special session to discuss Henderson Land Development Co.’s collapsed sale of 20 luxury apartments worth HK$2.67 billion ($343 million), even after the developer refused to attend the meeting.

Hong Kong’s government increased its scrutiny of property developers after Henderson’s October announcement that one of the apartments sold at 39 Conduit Road had fetched a record HK$88,000 a square foot. Twenty of the 24 sales in the development were later canceled. The government has sought details on the sale agreements.

“The company strongly rejects” allegations that there have been irregularities in the sale of the apartments, Henderson Land said in a statement published in the South China Morning Post newspaper today.

Members of the Legco housing panel on July 5 voted 7-to-1 to invite the developer, controlled by billionaire Lee Shau-kee, to today’s meeting. Henderson said a Legco appearance is “inappropriate” because it has “sufficiently disclosed” details on the transactions and an investigation is still under way, according to a July 8 press release.

Hong Kong police and other law enforcement agencies are investigating the sales at the project, Transport and Housing Secretary Eva Cheng told lawmakers during the Legco session on July 5. Cheng declined to specify the other agencies and give a schedule for the investigation.

Attending today’s meeting are officials from the Lands Department and Hong Kong Housing Authority. The government has submitted all the letters exchanged between Henderson and the Lands Department to the Legco, Duncan Pescod, the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing, told lawmakers at today’s meeting.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at kwong40@bloomberg.net

• Tweet
• More
  • Business Exchange
  • Buzz up!
  • Digg
• Print
• Email