Bid for Hongkong Land rumoured
Bermuda-registered Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd., Bloomberg Business News, quoting a Singapore newspaper, said yesterday.
Hongkong Land is one of the Jardine group of companies.
There is a "fair chance'' Singapore companies will be involved in a hostile takeover of the property company before Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule in 1997, said a Business Times columnist.
The newspaper said the "uneasy relationship'' between the Jardine group of companies and China was dissuading Jardine from raising its 32 percent stake in Hongkong Land to a majority to keep away potential bidders.
The paper said that potential bidders for Hongkong Land might see Singapore government-linked companies like Temasek Holdings Ltd. or Government of Singapore Investment Corp. as sources of funds for a takeover.
Bermuda-registered Jardine group companies Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd., Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd., Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd. and Mandarin Oriental International Ltd., as well as Hongkong Land.
