Hong Kong Tycoons to Sell $8.4 Billion in Assets to Cut Debt
- Swire Pacific, New World both announce plans to sell units
- Hong Kong firms are contending with rising borrowing costs
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Swire Pacific Ltd. has become the second notable Hong Kong company to announce plans to offload assets in as many days as part of efforts to reduce debt in the face of rising borrowing costs.
The conglomerate announced late Wednesday it will sell its US beverages business to its controlling shareholder run by the wealthy Swire family for $3.9 billion. The sale would lower one measure of the company’s indebtedness by more than one-third, it said in a statement. The firm also proposed a special dividend of about HK$11.7 billion ($1.5 billion), representing about half of the expected gain from the disposal.