Hermes to receive HK$900 million from selling its space

British property developer Chelsfield has bought the ground floor of The Galleria shopping centre in Central from French luxury brand Hermes for HK$900 million (US$115 million).

Comprising four retail shop units and a basement, the floor has a combined area of 7100sqft (660sqm).

Hermes makes a profit of $710 million through the sale of its former flagship space, after buying up the component units in succession since 2000 for a total of $190 million.

After deciding in 2016 to relocate its flagship to Prince’s Building, just a five-minute walk away, Hermes put the floor on the market.

For Chelsfield, the deal is its second acquisition of a commercial property in Hong Kong within a month. It partnered with Hong Kong real-estate investment firm Pamfleet to buy a shopping centre in North Point last month for $2 billion from Fortune Reit.

Chelsfield expanded to Asia in 2016, when it took over the real-estate division of the Dymon Asia Group. The Asia arm of the UK firm is now run by Dymon’s former management team led by former Grosvenor executive Nick Loup, who joined Chelsfield in 2015 as part of the takeover.