(Sept 19): Hong Kong billionaire Angela Leong has bought a historic building in London’s Aldwych district for about 250 million pounds (US$338 million), people with knowledge of the deal said.
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Angela Leong
Photographer: Jerome Favre/Bloomberg |
Leong, who is married to casino magnate Stanley Ho, has completed the purchase of Aldwych House from Rowan Asset Management and GI Partners LLC, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deal is confidential. The 174,000 square-foot (16,200 square-meter) building near Covent Garden has been leased to tenants including WeWork Cos. and the ROKA restaurant after a recent modernization.
A spokesman for the vendors declined to comment. Representatives for Leong did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
Hong Kong investors have poured into London’s commercial real estate market following the Brexit vote, lured by the cheap pound and lower values than their domestic market. Chinese and Hong Kong buyers spent almost 4 billion pounds on London commercial property in the first half of the year, up from 2.7 billion pounds in the whole of 2016, according to data compiled by broker CBRE Group Inc.
Hong Kong-based LKK Health Products Group Ltd agreed to buy the tower known as the Walkie Talkie for 1.28 billion pounds in July and Hong Kong real estate developer C C Land Holdings paid 1.15 billion pounds for the Cheesegrater tower in May. Cindat Capital Management is joining an acquisition of QHotels Group valuing the U.K. hospitality company at more than 500 million pounds (US$660 million), people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.
Leong, who has a net worth of US$3.7 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is executive director of SJM Holdings Ltd, Macau’s third-largest casino operator by revenue.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-18/hong-kong-billionaire-is-said-to-buy-338-million-london-office