Soho China loses lawsuit over premium Shanghai land

SHANGHAI -- Beijing-based commercial property developer Soho China Ltd on Wednesday lost a lawsuit over a premium piece of land in Shanghai's Bund in one of the country's most eye-catching legal battles in the real estate sector.

In the first-instance ruling, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court nullified a previous stake transfer agreement between Soho China and Greentown China Holdings Ltd. and Shanghai Zendai Property Ltd in December 2011 that gave Soho a 50-percent stake in a land project in Shanghai.

The units of the Shanghai-based property giant Fosun Group that filed the lawsuit own another 50 percent of the land project, which was sold for 9.22 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) by the Shanghai municipal government during an auction in February 2010.

Soho bought a 50-percent stake in the land project from units of Fosun's former partners Greentown China and Shanghai Zendai for 4 billion yuan.

The site in dispute covers 45,472 square meters in an area that houses multinationals in Shanghai with a designated construction area of 422,825 square meters for shops, hotels and offices purposes.

The court ruled that the agreement had deprived Fosun of a first right of refusal to buy the remaining stake of the joint venture for the development of the land.

Soho, Greentown China and Shanghai Zendai said in a joint statement that they are "deeply disappointed and regretful" toward the verdict and vowed to launch an appeal to the Shanghai Higher People's Court.

All the involved companies are listed in Hong Kong. The share price of Fosun rose 4.5 percent to HK$5.34 on Wednesday, Soho China dipped 0.44 percent to HK$6.73, Greentown China added 2.16 percent to HK$15.14 while Shanghai Zendai remained unchanged at HK$0.15.