Alibaba, Ant Group Buy Offices in Hong Kong

E-commerce giant Alibaba is adding several floors of office space in Hong Kong to its real estate holdings to the tune of nearly $1 billion.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited and fintech affiliate Ant Group have agreed to acquire the top 13 floors of the One Causeway Bay building for HK$7.2 billion ($925 million), Bloomberg reported. Mandarin Oriental International Limited is the seller of the 301,555 square feet of office space in one of Hong Kong’s priciest districts.

The sale marks the largest office property transaction in Hong Kong since 2021. Alibaba and Ant plan to turn the top floors of the 24-story building in Causeway Bay into their local headquarters. The deal includes signage rights for the building parking space for 50 vehicles. The handover is expected to close by the end of the year.

Both companies’ global headquarters are in Hangzhou, China. Alibaba and Ant are in the process of global expansion, with Hong Kong being their first destination for more space. The commercial real estate market in Hong Kong has seen its vacancy rate climb to 17 percent amid falling building values. The companies seemingly struck while the iron was hot to find a deal.

Eric Jing, chairman of Ant, has expressed that the company is committed to investing further in the city as it continues to emerge from post-pandemic doldrums. Ant’s international arm is currently looking to secure stablecoin cryptocurrency licenses in Hong Kong.

“This landmark property acquisition reflects our confidence in Hong Kong’s economy and operating environment, and we see Hong Kong as an ideal home base for our international expansion,” Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba, said in a statement. “Alibaba has always had a strong presence in Hong Kong since our inception in 1999. For a global technology company, the city offers professional talent, robust capital markets, an innovative culture and connectivity to the world.”

— Chris Malone Méndez