Hong Kong’s billionaire Cheng family puts luxury Rosewood Hotel in London on sale amid debt pressure

Advisers have been hired by the family, headed by tycoon Henry Cheng, to offer the hotel located in London’s Holborn district for sale, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

New World and Rosewood are both subsidiaries of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the family’s investment vehicle. The Rosewood hospitality arm is overseen by Henry’s daughter, Sonia Cheng. It operates 58 Rosewood hotels across 26 countries, with the Holborn location being the brand’s first property in the U.K. capital.

The proposed sale of the London property comes only days after Rosewood said it was moving to expand globally with several new projects, including its first ski resort in the French Alps opened this month.

Sonia, who serves as Rosewood’s CEO, said in a statement last Friday that the ski resort’s launch underscored the brand’s “long-term commitment” to international expansion and its focus on experience-driven offerings.

Sources had earlier told the South China Morning Post that CTFE had no plans to sell the prized hospitality brand.

A Rosewood spokesperson reaffirmed this in response to queries about the proposed London sales and added that all of the brand’s properties continue to operate as usual.

The Rosewood Hotel in London. Photo from the hotel’s website

The planned divestment also comes as New World has been ramping up asset sales after it recorded a record loss of about US$2.5 billion last year and weaker Hong Kong property prices pushed up its relative indebtedness, resulting in liquidity challenges.

The developer finalized roughly HK$88.2 billion (US$11.3 billion) in loan arrangements in June. It then secured a HK$3.95 billion loan in September against its flagship Victoria Dockside development. Last month, the company also won investor approval to exchange 65% of its perpetual bonds.

New World has stakes in several Rosewood properties, including those in Hong Kong, Beijing and Phuket. Rosewood Hong Kong, which opened in 2019, is part of the mixed-use New World Centre complex along Salisbury Road in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.

CTFE earlier this month agreed to sell Australia’s Alinta Energy for an enterprise value of A$6.5 billion (US$4.32 billion) to Singapore-listed Sembcorp Industries after eight years of ownership.