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Peggy Sito

ETON Properties, the winner of two sites at this week's government land auction, has been quickly and quietly amassing a sizeable property portfolio in Hong Kong.

  The company has frequently been dismissed as an insubstantial property player, but a closer look reveals that it has the makings of a big player.

  The company is owned and backed by the family of Lucio Tan, said to be the richest man in the Philippines.

  Mr Tan now seems to be casting his business interests further afield.

  Through Eton, his family is eyeing Hong Kong as a 'dragon head' to break into the real estate market in China.

  Eton's director Frank Chan, younger brother of Mr Tan, said that Hong Kong was the group's first step towards developing its property portfolio, and its expansion in China.

  'Hong Kong is the dragon head in Greater China, Shanghai is the heart and Beijing, the tail,' he said.

  He said Eton was committed to major property development in Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing.

  The company raised eyebrows when it acquired a prime residential site on Cox's Road, Kowloon, for HK$1.02 billion at Wednesday's auction.

  It also bought a smaller plot in Stanley for HK$53.5 million, a price higher than market expectations.

  The group, which has been in the property business for more than 10 years, focuses on investment properties.

  It has maintained a low profile in Hong Kong.

  According to a Forbes survey in July last year, Mr Tan's wealth was estimated at US$1.7 billion.

  His main business interests include Fortune Tobacco, which has 67 per cent of the Philippine cigarette market, and Asia Brewery, which commands 16 per cent of the Philippine beer market.

  He became a major share holder and chairman of Philippine Airlines following a long power struggle.

  Mr Chan said Eton always bought land at the low ebb of property cycles such as its acquisition of the Queen's Garden site for HK$500 million after the October crash in 1987 and the purchase of the Dragon Centre site for $280 million after the Gulf War in 1991.

  He believes the recent correction for the luxury residential market is now virtually over.

  He was optimistic about Hong Kong's property market and described the recent price correction in home prices as a healthy adjustment.

  He said other developers' confidence in the housing market had also recovered, which was reflected by the strong bidding at Wednesday's auction.

  'We cannot say big developers are still cautious about the housing market even though some of them did not raise their hands at the auction,' Mr Tan said.

  He said the big developers had more channels to source land such as through the property tender developments along the new airport railway, which made them selective.

  In the past few years, Eton acquired luxury developments such as King's Court on the Peak, Woodland Villa in Shouson Hill, and Stanley Green, Banoo Villa and Eton Tower in Causeway Bay.

  Mr Chan said the Cox's Road site would be turned into a luxury residential development, which was in line with the firm's strategy to develop quality properties in Hong Kong.



Eton eyes mainland property market