How successful will the Kwok brothers and Sun Hung Kai be in managing the makeover?
Our top picks are Cheung Kong and Sun Hung Kai in Hong Kong and DBS Land in Singapore.
They suggested investors buy on weakness, with Sun Hung Kai Properties and Henderson Land among their top picks.
Sun Hung Kai's board later appointed Thomas and Raymond Kowk, along with their mother to head the company.
An outside buyout of Sun Hung Kai is unlikely, however, because the brothers own more than half of the company.
China is a market in which Sun Hung Kai now has moderate exposure and has had a modicum of success.
The shortage of qualified tech talent in Hong Kong and throughout Asia is a potential hindrance to Sun Hung Kai's Internet dreams.
Often, the breadth of Sun Hung Kai's business translates into valuable contacts in China, which may help when Kwok decides to take the e-initiatives north.
Sun Hung Kai emerged in 1972 as a consortium that included Lee Shau Kee, the fabulously wealthy owner of another Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land.
An executive director at Sun Hung Kai Properties was arrested in connection with what the company said is a bribery investigation by Hong Kong authorities.
Sun Hung Kai Properties, which is controlled by the Kwok family, employed an unknown bidder who waited until the 90-minute auction was almost finished before entering the fray.
Lee remains a significant shareholder in Sun Hung Kai and acts as a mentor to the Kwok sons, who call him "uncle" and remember how he helped their father.
On Friday, Sun Hung Kai said it has appointed Adam Kwok, 29, the son of Thomas Kwok, and Edward Kwok, 31, the son of Raymond Kwok, as alternate directors.
In their comments, the two brothers sought to reassure investors that Sun Hung Kai, the city's largest developer by stock-market value, has a strong professional management team that can weather every challenge.
At a Sun Hung Kai news conference late Friday, Raymond and Thomas Kwok said they have confidence in the Hong Kong judicial system and that the company won't be affected by the filing of bribery charges.
Former chairman and eldest brother Walter Kwok, said through his spokeswoman Tuesday that he felt very sorry about the whole incident and urged the staff of Sun Hung Kai to continue to perform their duties well.
After 18 years at the helm, Walter was ousted from his position as chairman and chief executive of Sun Hung Kai in 2008, after a dispute erupted between him and his brothers, Thomas and Raymond, over control of the company.
The tycoons' case will be weakened by the surprise arrest on March 29th, for alleged graft, of two major property developers, reported to be Raymond and Thomas Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties, as well as a former high government official, reported to be Rafael Hui.
Founded in 1963 by the company's late patriarch, Sun Hung Kai developed into one of Hong Kong's most successful businesses, and when the elder Kwok died in 1990, he left the reins of Sun Hung Kai to his three sons, with the eldest, Walter Kwok, at the helm.
In Hong Kong, Chau expects that falling interest rates will help stocks as a whole, especially such blue-chip property developers as Cheung Kong and Sun Hung Kai Properties, both Chau holdings, since lower borrowing costs should stimulate demand for property. (Fair disclosure: Through cef Holdings, Cheung Kong is an investor in Chau's employer, TAL CEF Global Asset Management).
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