ESR has won the bid the buy a prime Hong Kong industrial site in the vicinity of one of the world’s busiest ports for HK$5.2bn (€648m).

Hong Kong’s lands department said the Kwai Chung Town Lot No 531 at the junction of Mei Ching Road and Container Port Road South, Kwai Chung in Hong Kong’s New Territories, has been awarded to ESR on a 50-year land grant.

The department said the other tenderers included associated companies of Singapore’s Mapletree Investments and Australia’s Goodman Group.

A spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said: “The government will continue to identify more suitable sites for the development of multi-storey modern logistics facilities to promote modern logistics development progressively.”

The lot is sited on some 55,245sqm and is designated for logistics services and public vehicle park purposes.

In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the ESR board said the group’s internal resources and external financing would fund the acquisition.

ESR said: “The acquisition will provide strategic value to the group, given the high-profile and prime location of the site, enhancing the group’s strategic position in a key global gateway logistics markets.”

Last year, ESR entered Hong Kong’s data centre market with the acquisition of a facility in Kwai Chung to redevelop into a US$675m (€668m) asset.

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