The Housing Authority (HA) announced today (31 October 2003) the appointment of UBS Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited as Joint Global Co-ordinators for the divestment of its retail and carparking (RC) facilities.

Meanwhile, the HA has also appointed JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited as its Financial Adviser and PricewaterhouseCoopers as Auditor and Reporting Accountant for the divestment project.

The HA plans to divest its RC facilities through selling the facilities to a new company, which will then make an initial public offering (IPO) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.  The Joint Global Co-ordinators will develop a coherent strategy for the re-structuring of the RC operations under the new company and the marketing of the IPO.  They will also undertake the management and execution of various tasks in the re-structuring and the IPO phases of the project.

The Financial Adviser will provide independent advice to the Authority on all aspects of the re-structuring and IPO to ensure the interests of the Authority as well as the public's interest are adequately served.

The Auditor and Reporting Accountant will assist in the accounting and financial reporting aspects of the re-structuring of the RC operations and listing of the new company's shares on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the HA said that the above appointments mark an important step in the process leading to the privatization of HA's RC facilities.

"The appointments were made in accordance with established procedures of procurement in an open, fair and transparent manner.  Competition among bidders was keen and we are pleased to be able to select a strong team to assist HA in taking forward this important project," the spokesman said.

The HA approved in July 2003 the divestment plan involving retail properties of one million square meters and 100 000 car-parking spaces.  The successful divestment of RC facilities will enable the Authority to focus on its primary mission to provide subsidized housing to people in need, the spokesman added.


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