ANNOUNCEMENTS

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JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT
CONNECTED TRANSACTION
Purchase of Property

 
Summary
  • On 26th February, 1999, a Pre-Sale Contract for Foreign Sales Property and a Supplemental Agreement thereto (the "Agreements") were entered into between Beijing Minghua Property Development Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Minghua") and Dao Heng Bank Limited ("DHB"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dao Heng Bank Group Limited ("DHBG"). 
  • Beijing Minghua is a 75% owned subsidiary of Guoco Properties Limited which is owned as to 55% by Guoco Group Limited ("GGL") and 45% by First Capital Corporation Ltd, a 58.95% subsidiary of GGL. The remaining 25% interest in Beijing Minghua is owned by an independent third party. 
  • Under the Agreements, Beijing Minghua agreed to sell, and DHB agreed to purchase Rooms 821 and 822, 8th Floor, Block B, Corporate Square, No. 35 Finance Street, Xi Cheng District, Beijing, the People's Republic of China (the "Property") with a total gross floor area of 309 square metres for a cash consideration of US$648,900. 
  • GGL has a 71.7% interest in DHBG. 
  • The Agreements constitute a connected transaction for each of GGL and DHBG under the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. Details of the Agreements will be included in the next published annual reports and accounts of each of GGL and DHBG.
 

The AGREEMENTS DATED 26th February, 1999

Parties:

Vendor        :    Beijing Minghua

Purchaser    :    DHB

The Agreements:

Under the Agreements, Beijing Minghua agreed to sell, and DHB agreed to purchase the Property.

Consideration:

US$648,900, representing US$2,100 per square metre, in cash is to be paid by DHB. Full payment of the consideration will be made on completion. The consideration was determined after arm's length negotiations with reference to the valuation of the Corporate Square by an independent property valuer as at 31st July, 1998 and the recently transacted price of units or floors in Corporate Square between Beijing Minghua and independent third parties.

Reasons for the Agreements:

The Beijing representative office of DHB has been operating in rented premises in the Everbright Bank Building in Beijing since 1994. A self-owned premises will save rental costs and facilitate the operations of DHB in Beijing. The Property will be used as the prospective premises for the Beijing representative office.

Completion:

Completion of the Agreements will take place within ten days of the date of the signing thereof. Full payment of the consideration will be made on completion.

Connected transaction

The Agreements constitute a connected transaction for each of GGL and DHBG. The consideration under the Agreements exceeds 0.03% but is less than 3% of the latest audited consolidated net tangible asset value of each of GGL and DHBG as at 30th June, 1998. Details of the Agreements will be included in the next published annual report and accounts of each of GGL and DHBG.
 
 

                     By Order of the Board                                    By Order of the Board
                    Guoco Group Limited                        Dao Heng Bank Group Limited
                       Doris W.N. Wong                                         Doris W.N. Wong
                      Company Secretary                                      Company Secretary
 

Hong Kong, 26th February, 1999


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