Luxury HK$171 million Hong Kong home bought by XPeng's Brian Gu
Brian Gu and his wife Wenisa Ma last week spent HK$171 million (S$28 million) for a house in Hong Kong's Jardine's Lookout area, according to regulatory filings. The neighbourhood is known for attracting celebrities and billionaires, including property tycoon Joseph Lau.
The new purchase adds to Gu's property portfolio in the Asia financial hub, where he acquired a HK$60 million home in 2016 in the city's southern district, another area popular among the wealthy.
A representative for XPeng declined to comment. Gu did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Local media Hong Kong Economic Journal reported the transaction earlier.
Hong Kong's residential property market stand around September 2016 levels, according to the Centaline Property Centa-City Leading Index, a gauge for overall home prices in the city.
Hong Kong recorded 56 sales for homes worth more than HK$100 million in the first half of 2025, representing a 29 per cent decline compared with the period a year ago. The total transaction amount plunged 43 per cent to about HK$11 billion, according to data from Centaline Property Agency.
Gu, a former JPMorgan Chase banker, joined XPeng in 2018 after more than a decade at the Wall Street bank. He received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Washington in August 1997, and he had a master's degree in business administration from Yale University. He has three children with Ma, according to a biography page of Ma on the Museum of Chinese in America website. BLOOMBERG
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
China's property crisis hits new low with Evergrande delisting
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Evergrande's downfall is by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China's economic growth and spurred a record of distressed builders. HONG KONG – China Evergrande Group's delisting marks a bleak milestone for the nation's property sector, now in a fourth year of paralysis that continues to weigh down the world's second-largest economy. The company, once China's biggest developer by sales, will be removed from the Hong Kong stock exchange on Aug 25, a year and a half after the shares were suspended and almost 16 years after the Guangzhou-based firm was listed. The delisting comes as liquidators sifting through the books revealed that the developer's debt load now stands at about HK$350 billion (S$57.7 billion), much bigger than previously disclosed. The liquidators provided a stern assessment after more than a year of going through the balance sheet and the firm's web of entities, deeming its chances of pulling off a holistic restructuring as 'out of reach.' Once emblematic of China's housing boom, Evergrande's fall underscores the fragility of the market, where declining consumer confidence, oversupply, and mounting debt have stalled real estate recovery efforts. 'It's a symbolic moment for the mainland property sector,' said Mr Kenny Ng, a strategist at China Everbright Securities International. The drastic collapse 'will definitely leave a deep memory in all investors in the market.' Evergrande's downfall is by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China's economic growth and spurred a record of distressed builders. The company, which first defaulted on a dollar bond in December 2021, was once the country's largest developer by sales, and was worth more than US$50 billion (S$64.2 billion) in 2017 at its peak. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Sengkang-Punggol LRT line back to full service: SBS Transit World AI eroded doctors' ability to spot cancer within months in study Singapore From survivable to liveable: The making of a green city World US trade team will meet Chinese officials in two or three months, Bessent says Multimedia World Photography Day: Celebrating the art of image-making Asia DPM Gan kicks off India visit in Mumbai as Singapore firms ink investment agreements Business CDL H1 profit rises 3.9% to S$91.2 million; declares 3 cent per share special dividend Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story Despite government stimulus, property sales remain sluggish this year, prompting analysts including UBS Group's to delay expectations of a recovery to mid-to-late 2026. New-home sales by the 100 largest developers have fallen more than 20 per cent for two consecutive months, China Real Estate Information data showed. Calls for further policy support for the residential market have grown louder as the slump drags on. Still, the Communist Party's decision-making Politburo refrained from adding property stimulus measures at a meeting in July after the Chinese economy held up surprisingly well in the face of US tariffs. Evergrande has been joined by a raft of firms in unraveling. On Aug 11, China South City was ordered to liquidate by Hong Kong's High Court after failing to win enough support from creditors for its restructuring proposal. Hong Kong's courts have issued at least six wind-up orders for Chinese developers since the crisis began in 2021. Evergrande's liquidation continues to remain the most complex and serves as a road map for other developers going through the same process. About US$150 billion of debt from the country's developers have fallen in distress. Even worse is that a growing number of builders that passed key milestones for restructuring proposals are now heading back to square one. Sunac China became the first major Chinese builder to pursue a second debt overhaul plan. Liquidators' chase Evergrande's liquidation has been a monumental task as the firm comprises 3,000 legal entities in multiple jurisdictions, as well as about 1,300 projects under development in more than 280 cities, according to the liquidators. They have assumed control of more than 100 companies related to the firm that collectively hold a value of HK$27 billion. There were also 3,000 projects under the Hong Kong-listed property management operation Evergrande Property Services Group. Creditors are especially paying close attention to the handling of this arm, since it 'represents a very substantial potential source of value' and are being given 'the highest priority' in terms of attention, the liquidators said. The liquidators said the realisation of assets has so far been 'modest' at US$255 million. Some US$167 million has been 'upstreamed' and linked to Evergrande, however, stakeholders should not assume that all of the money will be available to the company due to complex ownership structures, they said. A previous analysis by Deloitte estimated the recovery rate for Evergrande's offshore unsecured creditors stood at just 3.53 per cent. 'The announcement of Evergrande's delisting could add more pressure to mainland builder shares still trading,' said Mr Ng. 'It's a lesson to investors alerting them to spend more time to understand a company's business when earnings are growing too fast and to study policy shifts.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Evergrande to delist in milestone for China housing crisis
[HONG KONG] China Evergrande Group said that its Hong Kong stock will be delisted, marking the end of an era for the former high-flying developer whose demise came to symbolise the country's property bust. The Guangzhou-based company said that the stock exchange has decided to cancel its listing, according to a filing to the Hong Kong bourse on Tuesday (Aug 12). The shares will be removed on Aug 25 and the company will not apply for a review of the exchange's decision, it added. Evergrande's collapse was by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China's economic growth and led to a record spate of distress among builders. The company, which first defaulted on a US dollar bond in December 2021, was once the country's largest developer by sales, and was worth more than US$50 billion in 2017 at its peak. In a separate filing on Tuesday, court-appointed liquidators said that Evergrande's debt load is far bigger than earlier estimated, and any 'holistic' restructuring is out of reach. The clock started ticking for the delisting in late January last year, when Evergrande received a liquidation order from a Hong Kong court and trading of its shares was suspended. It has remained halted since then, having failed to meet requirements for a resumption of trading. In Hong Kong, a stock can be delisted if suspension lasts 18 months or longer. The move will further diminish hopes for any recovery for Evergrande's shareholders, who have seen the value of their investment evaporate in recent years. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up Shares of Evergrande last traded at less than 20 Hong Kong cents on Jan 29, 2024, giving it a market value of HK$2.2 billion (S$360 million). The stock has had a low free float, with its founder Hui Ka Yan, owning a roughly 60 per cent stake. 'Whether or not there's a delisting, Evergrande's shareholders will likely have to prepare for near-total loss,' Kristy Hung, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said before the announcement. 'The developer's liquidation and substantial claims from creditors who are ahead in the order suggests equity holders face a material risk of getting nothing.' Delisting risks Several other Chinese developers face similar delisting risks, according to the latest tally by the bourse. They include mid-sized builders Modern Land (China), which has been suspended for more than 16 months, and Dexin China Holdings, which received a liquidation order in June last year. To resume trading, some of them will have to file more updated audited results, have winding-up petitions withdrawn or dismissed, or have any liquidators discharged. 'The golden era of real estate is gone,' said Glen Ho, Asia-Pacific contingency planning and insolvency leader at Deloitte. 'The business model for builders has totally changed.' Evergrande still has two other units listed in Hong Kong, a property service provider and an electric vehicle maker. China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, which has been suspended since April, could be delisted, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Andrew Chan and Daniel Fan wrote in a recent note. Following its 2009 listing under the ticker 3333, Evergrande rose to become one of China's hottest stocks in its heyday, powering founder and chairman Hui to become Asia's second-richest person. Much of Hui's known wealth was derived from his controlling stake in Evergrande and the cash dividends he received from the company. Beijing's crackdown on the property sector since 2020 capped the developer's borrowing capacity, effectively cutting it off from credit markets. Following failed restructuring attempts, Evergrande was given a winding-up order in Hong Kong in 2024. Later that year, a mainland Chinese court accepted a liquidation application filed against one of its major onshore units. Evergrande's debt pile amounts to US$45 billion, according to the developer's court-appointed liquidators. The company is facing 187 debt claims, with the total amount far exceeding the US$27.5 billion of liabilities disclosed in its financial statement in December 2022, the liquidators said in a progress report released on Tuesday. The new figure is not to be taken as final since additional claims could emerge and all are subject to formal review. The liquidators said the realisation of assets has so far been 'modest' at US$255 million. Some US$167 million has been 'upstreamed' and linked to Evergrande. Stakeholders should not assume that all of the money will be available to the company due to complex ownership structures, they said. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business Times
China Everbright Water H1 net profit slips 3% to HK$563.8 million on revenue decline
[SINGAPORE] Dual-listed China Everbright Water on Tuesday (Aug 12) posted net profit of HK$563.8 million (S$92.3 million) for the six months ended Jun 30, a decline of 3 per cent from HK$581.1 million in the year-ago period. The company declared an interim dividend of HK$0.0609 per ordinary share, unchanged from the interim dividend it declared for H1 2024. Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at HK$0.1971, down 3 per cent from an EPS of HK$0.2031 previously. For the half year, the water environmental management company's revenue stood at HK$3.3 billion, 2 per cent lower than HK$3.4 billion in H1 2024. The topline decline was driven in part by lower contributions from its construction service segment, which posted lower revenue at HK$1.2 billion, compared with HK$1.4 billion previously. Gross profit margin rose by 4 percentage points on the year to 42 per cent, from 38 per cent. Gross profit was up 8 per cent at HK$1.4 billion, from HK$1.2 billion previously. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation stood at HK$1.2 billion, largely unchanged from the same period last year. In H1 2025, the company secured several asset-light projects and service contracts, amounting to a contract value of around 60 million yuan (S$10.7 million). As at Jun 30, 2025, it had investments in and held 170 environmental projection projects, with a total investment of around 31.6 billion yuan. The company noted that it had faced industry pressures and challenges, amid a 'volatile market environment', for the six-month period. It added that it continued to realign its business strategy in H1 2025, and made progress in traditional and emerging business areas as well as asset-light and asset-heavy business models, while expanding its business within and outside mainland China. Shares of China Everbright Water were trading at S$0.26, up 2 per cent or S$0.005, as at the midday trading break on Tuesday.