Henry Cheng

May 17, 2022

Courtesy of NWS Holdings NWS Holdings —a unit of New World Development that’s controlled by billionaire Henry Cheng and his family—has agreed to buy six logistics properties in China from Australia’s Goodman Group for 2.29 billion yuan ($338 million) as the Hong Kong-based developer seeks to tap the e-commerce boom, while divesting aircraft leasing firm Goshawk Aviation Ltd. In regulatory filing on Monday, NWS said it and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, also controlled by the Cheng family, have agreed to sell Goshawk , which owns and manageds over 200 aircraft, to Japan’s SMBC Aviation Capital for a cash consideration of $1.67 billion, valuing the Dublin-based aircraft leasing company at $6.7 billion. “The transaction presents an excellent opportunity for NWS to unlock value for our shareholders and mitigate uncertainties and volatilities caused by macro factors such as changes in interest rates and the Covid-19 pandemic,” Eric Ma, CEO of NWS, said in a statement. “This is also in line with NWS’s corporate strategy in optimizing our business portfolio and continuing to invest in opportunities with progressive cash flow and return to achieve long-term sustainable growth.” NWS, which also has interests in toll roads, construction and insurance, has been building new businesses such as logistics. The company has agreed to buy logistics properties from Goodman with a total gross leasable area of 531,000 square meters across the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Wuhan, more than doubling its portfolio to more than 1 million square meters. The properties being acquired include five operating logistics facilities, which generated over 100 million yuan in rental income last year, and another one expected to be completed this year. With an average occupancy of about 90%, the properties’ tenants included third-party logistics providers, international retailers and e-commerce companies. MORE FOR YOU