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 Headquarters atHopewell Centre | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| SEHK: 54 | |
| Founded | 17 October 1972; 53 years ago (1972-10-17) |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
Key people | Gordon Wu |
| Subsidiaries | Hopewell Real Estate Agency Limited Hopewell Hong Kong Properties Limited |
Hopewell Holdings Limited (Chinese:合和實業有限公司) is a majorproperty developer in Hong Kong established in 1972 and headed by SirGordon Wu.[1]
Hopewell Holdings was established on 17 October 1972. It was listed on theHong Kong stock exchanges in 1972 and delisted when taken private in 2019.[2]
Hopewell Holding is a holding company for investments in infrastructure projects, property letting, property agency and management, hotel operations and management, restaurant operation and food catering, construction and project management.
Its primary businesses are inGuangdong and Hong Kong. It was one of the first foreign companies to invest in infrastructure projects in China and a pioneer of infrastructure developments acrossAsia, including the failedBangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS) project inBangkok.
It held 68 percent ofHopewell Highway Infrastructure Ltd, which is spun off by Hopewell Holdings and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in early August, 2003. The company was sold off to Shenzhen Expressway Corporation Limited on 11 January 2022 and renamed Shenzhen Investment Holdings Bay Area Development Company Limited.[3]
As one of the founders of Hopewell Holdings, Wu has been the managing director since 1972. He retired as the managing director of Hopewell Holdings in January 2002 but remains as chairman of the board.
Hopewell participated in the investment of five toll road projects with a total length of 360 kilometres (220 mi), all of which being in thePearl River Delta region of Guangdong province in mainland China. Four toll road projects are in operation while construction of the 15 km (9.3 mi) Phase I of theGuangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway (Guangzhou toShunde section) commenced in December 2001. All of the projects are in the form of co-operativejoint ventures between Hopewell and mainland Chinese partners.
Hopewell was the lead contractor for the ill-fatedBangkok Elevated Road and Train System. The project commenced in 1990 and was terminated by the Thai government in 1998, only 13% complete. Each side blamed the other for the failure of the project. Both parties sued, and the case has been in litigation since its cancellation. On 23 April 2019, Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court upheld an arbitration committee's ruling in favour of Hopewell, contractor for the 80 billion baht project. The court ordered SRT to pay Hopewell compensation of 11.88 billion baht, plus 7.5% interest per year. The interest, totaling 13 billion baht, brings the total to nearly 25 billion baht (c. US$400 million), payable within 180 days.[4] Thailand'sTransport Ministry is battling to overturn the court ruling. "We have found the contract should have been nullified from the very beginning, which means the government is not bound to pay a single baht in compensation," said a ministry spokesman.[5]
