Evergrande crisis inspires shrewd bottom-feeding

Chinese Estates Holdings

07/10/2021 04:12

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are her own.)
    By Jennifer Hughes
    HONG KONG, Oct 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tycoon Joseph Lau
offered just $250 mln for the 25% of Chinese Estates his family
doesn’t own. Shares were hit by its long backing of its ailing
peer, whose boss plays poker with Lau. As with a rival’s mooted
deal for an Evergrande unit stake, current owners may have to
fold.
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    CONTEXT NEWS
    - Developer Chinese Estates on Oct. 6 announced that tycoon
Joseph Lau has offered HK$4 a share for the 25% stake in the
company his family does not already own. It values the chunk
held by minority investors at HK$1.9 billion ($245 million).
    - The price represents a 38% premium to the Hong Kong-based
firm’s last price on Sept. 30, when the shares were suspended
pending news. 
    - Shares in Lau’s firm recently hit their lowest in more
than a decade, largely because of its long-running close links
with troubled fellow developer, Evergrande.

 (Editing by Antony Currie and Katrina Hamlin)
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