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Hong Kong property: Agile chairman Chen Zhuolin loses US$16 million in nine-flat fire sale

By Salina Li and Cheryl Arcibal,

South China Morning Post

/ SCMP |

November 29, 2024 3:42 PM SGT

The chairman of Agile Group Holdings has sold all nine units he owned in Hamburg Villa this month (Photo: Jonathan Wong/SCMP)

Chen Zhuolin, the chairman of distressed mainland Chinese developer Agile Group, has sold all nine units he owned in a Hong Kong luxury residential project at less than half the original investment six years ago.

According to an agent from Centaline Property, the 62-year-old tycoon sold the units in Hamburg Villa on Eastbourne Road in Kowloon Tong earlier this month. The units were valued at HK$213 million ($36.8 million), and they were sold at discounts between 53% and 63%.

Chen was only able to recover about HK$90 million, an aggregate discount of 58%, according to agents and Land Registry records.

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One of the properties, an 872 sq ft three-bedroom unit, fetched HK$8 million on Nov 1, according to official records. Based on the purchase price of HK$21.4 million in 2018, the flat was sold at a 63% discount.

The fire sales show the slump in China’s property market over the past four years has eroded the personal fortunes of local and mainland real estate tycoons, such as Hui Ka-yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group. Other high-profile casualties include the family of Ho Shung-pun and the family of late shop king Tang Shing-bor.

Chen Zhuolin, chairman of Agile Group, in March 2017 (Photo: KY Cheng/SCMP)

Chen and his wife, Luk Sin Fong, control 58% of Agile through a family trust. Agile's shares have slumped more than 90% over the past five years.

Individuals linked to Agile have borrowed against more than one Hong Kong property. Luk, Agile’s former vice-chair, had taken an undisclosed amount of loans, using her luxury residence in Repulse Bay as collateral, an industry source said in February. She had been shopping for a HK$500 million loan, the source said.

Agile separately owns some real estate in Kowloon, according to its annual report. The company has an 82% share of the 6 Eastbourne Road site and a 23% share of the land parcel on 8-10 Eastbourne Road.

Agile paid about HK$3.3 billion for the two adjacent sites in 2017 and 2022, according to Savills, which brokered the deals.

The annual report also listed projects on King’s Road and Mount Parker Road in Quarry Bay among the company’s assets, which have since been put up for sale by receivers.

Like many of its peers, the Guangzhou-based developer has struggled with liquidity. In May, it failed to pay interest on a US$483 million bond maturing in 2025. Sources have previously said the firm was also seeking to refinance a HK$894 million loan facility, using the Quarry Bay asset as collateral.

Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices dropped by 1.7% in September, bringing the 12-month decline to 12.5% — the lowest since August 2016.

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