Hong Kong's Next Media Ltd (
The company has also entered into agreements to buy land and office premises for a production plant for the new paper and for the Taiwan company headquarters, Next Media said in a statement.
Last month Next announced the purchase of two buildings in Neihu for NT$780 million, amid shutdowns and cutbacks at struggling local media companies.
One of the buildings will be occupied by Next Media Taiwan, publisher of Next magazine (
The Apple Daily, known for a diet of sex, scandal, gossip and graphic front-page pictures, sells about 1.5 million copies a day to Hong Kong's population of 6.7 million, a market Lai has said now offers it little room to expand.
"It has been the group's intention to expand and develop its publishing business in Taiwan, a market which the board believes has good potential and room for development of such publishing business," Janis Lee, Next Media's company secretary, said in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
Andrew Chow, deputy chairman of Next Media, said in December the company "is expected to generate approximately HK$500 million (US$64 million) each year to finance" the Taiwan edition of Apple Daily.
The company is expected to take up residence in the complex in the second half of the year.
The real estate deal is reported to be the second biggest in the Neihu Phase 6 Light Industrial District (
The purchase will be a significant boost for the district, which has seen vacancy rates increase from 4.67 percent to 16.85 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a report by international real estate firm Colliers Jardine.
Total floorspace of the two buildings is 1,319 pings, with each ping costing an average of NT$160,850.
The builder of the complex, Founding Development Construction Co (皇鼎建設), is expected to earn roughly NT$17.2 million.
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