Singapore billionaire family's UOL discussing purchase of $382M Hong Kong hotel

A Singaporean billionaire family, led by the Wee clan, is reportedly in talks to acquire a 50% stake in a Hong Kong hotel from New World Development and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The hotel, first established in 1969 as the first Hyatt outside the U.S., operated until 2006 before reopening as the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The property is located in a 64-story skyscraper co-developed by New World and the Urban Renewal Authority. New World Development, a leading Hong Kong property developer controlled by the Wee family, is currently the most indebted among its counterparts due to declining property markets in mainland China and Hong Kong. The family, also the owners of Singapore's third-largest bank, United Overseas Bank, aims to reduce debt, sell assets, and bolster liquidity.

This potential acquisition, reported by Bloomberg, would see the family acquire the two firms' respective 50% shares in the hotel. UOL, a subsidiary of the Wee family's enterprise, is set to list its real estate investment trust on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, generating a net gain of 3.24 billion yuan (US$483.9 million). Forbes recently ranked the Wee family as the sixth wealthiest individuals in Singapore, with a combined net worth of US$12 billion.