HPW Co (海霸王企業), which runs restaurants, hotels and food logistics centers in Taiwan and China, yesterday won a foreclosure auction of several floors Kaohsiung’s tallest building, 85 Sky Tower (高雄85大樓), for NT$5.44 billion (US$176.05 million).
The figure was NT$10,000 higher than the asking price after two failed bids reduced it by 40 percent, court data showed.
HPW won the bid for the 34th, 35th and 37th to 85th floors of the tower, which house 85 Sky Tower Hotel (君鴻國際酒店) and another lodging facility.
HPW said it aims to increase its presence in the city, encouraged by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) efforts to attract investors and tourists.
The investment comes after the company last month announced plans to build a mixed-use frozen-foods logistics park at a cost of NT$8 billion at Cianjhen Fishing Port (前鎮漁港) in Kaohsiung, which is to mimic Addiction Aquatic Development (AAD, 上引水產) in Taipei.
HPW president Chuang Jung-te (莊榮德), founder of seafood restaurant chain Hai Pa Wang (海霸王), earlier said that he and his son Chuang Li-chih (莊立自) hope to help regenerate Kaohsiung.
The family built the first Hai Pa Wang restaurant in the city in 1972.
The logistics park would not only provide venues for fish and fishery product transactions, but would also set aside space for young people to develop e-commerce, the company said.
HPW aims to increase its number of hotel rooms to 6,000 within a few years from 2,249 at present, Chuang Jung-te said.
The group operates hotels under the City Suites (城市商旅), Papa Whale Hotel and Midtown Richardson (德立莊) brands in Taipei, Taoyuan, Yilan, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
The purchase of 85 Sky Tower Hotel would raise the group’s profile in the local hospitality industry and help boost confidence for potential participants, analysts said.
Hotel operators in Kaohsiung have taken a hard hit in recent years amid a sharp decline in Chinese tourists, with some seeking to exit, but unable to find buyers.
Buying prospects have improved for Hotel R Kaohsiung (皇家尊龍大酒店), which has an asking price of NT$576 million, analysts said.
A third foreclosure auction is set for March 27.
The downturn is likely to have bottomed out in light of a 9.27 percent rebound in Chinese tourists in January from a year earlier, despite an overall retreat in inbound travelers, Tourism Bureau data showed.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
CAUTION: Right now, artificial intelligence runs on faith, not productivity and eventually, the risk of a bubble will emerge,’ TIER economist Gordon Sun said Taiwanese manufacturers turned more optimistic last month, ending a five-month streak of declining sentiment as concerns over US tariffs, currency volatility and China’s overcapacity began to ease, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said yesterday. The manufacturing business confidence index rose 1.17 points from June to 86.8, its first rebound since February. TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) attributed the uptick to fading trade uncertainties, a steadier New Taiwan dollar and reduced competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is unlikely to face significant damage from Washington’s ongoing probe into semiconductors, given the US’ reliance on Taiwanese chips to power artificial
RSS