China blockchain firm pursues HK tycoon's boutique hotel
HONG KONG: Sharing Economy International Inc, a Chinese textile machinery maker with blockchain ambitions, said it’s pursuing the acquisition of a boutique hotel from Hong Kong property billionaire Lee Shau-kee.
A unit of Sharing Economy is offering to buy the Mira Moon Hotel from Lee’s Hong Kong-listed hospitality company, Miramar Hotel & Investment Co, for about HK$1.35bil (US$173mil), chief operating officer Parkson Yip said in a phone interview Tuesday. Yip said he hopes for a deal to be finalised by the end of next month.
US-listed Sharing Economy, which has a market value of about US$17.8mil, recently changed its name from Cleantech Solutions International Inc as it started to pursue investments in businesses related to the sharing economy as well as blockchain technology.
The Hong Kong-based company had US$4.8mil of cash and equivalents at the end of September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Sharing Economy said last week that a subsidiary entered into an exclusivity agreement to potentially buy a majority stake in Quik Ventures Ltd, which runs a plat- form for sharing underused office space.
Yip said the company is still considering how it could apply a similar business model to Mira Moon, a 91-room hotel near Hong Kong’s bustling Causeway Bay shopping district.
Mira Moon is a part of Marriott International Inc’s Design Hotels network of independent hotels and uses the hospitality giant’s Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty programme.
A representative for Miramar said the company has no plans to dispose of the property.
Shares of Miramar have risen 2.4% this year, giving the company a market value of US$1.3bil.
It also owns The Mira, a five-star hotel in Hong Kong where whistle-blower Edward Snowden stayed during his hideout in the city.
Besides its hotels, Miramar operates several upmarket restaurants including Cuisine Cuisine and Tsui Hang Village.
Lee, 89, ranks as Hong Kong’s second-richest person with a net worth of US$25.1bil, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Miramar is 48.3% owned by Henderson Land Development Co, which is controlled by Lee’s family and ranks as the city’s third-largest developer by market value, its annual report shows.
Sharing Economy shareholders approved the company’s name change in December. The firm also makes dyeing and finishing equipment for the textile industry, its website shows.