HONG KONG, 25 July 2012 – The Link REIT (“The Link”) is the owner of 182 retail and car park facilities in Hong Kong. Proposals were made to expand the asset class of The Link’s investment strategy and to grant power to The Link to make charitable donations and sponsorships. Special resolutions relating to these two proposed initiatives were passed at The Link’s Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) today (25 July 2012).
Mr George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited, said, “Sustainability is an essential part of the way we operate our business. Our sustainability framework encompasses various areas of corporate sustainability, and put sustainable growth, stakeholders’ interests and responsible business practices at the heart of our operations. Our unitholders’ endorsement of the two initiatives will further advance sustainable development for The Link and the communitites that we serve, and build on our existing community engagement initiatives.”
With the passing of the related resolution, a charity and community engagement programme (“CCEP”) will be established for charitable donations and sponsorships to be made by The Link. The beneficiaries of the CCEP will be registered charitable institutions in Hong Kong. Two initial focus areas are supporting the well-being of the elderly and the disadvantaged as well as education, training and development of children and youth services in communities nearby. The Link is now setting up the Selection Committee and drawing up details regarding CCEP.
“Over the years, we have been contributing to various community groups through channels such as concessionary rent and venue sponsorship. Unitholders’ approval of the CCEP proposal will offer us a more agile way of expanding our community engagement work, and better support the sustainable development of local communities by way of charitable donations and sponsorships,” Mr Hongchoy said.
Resolutions were also passed at today's AGM, enabling The Link to expand the current investment strategy from purely investing in retail and car-park properties to non-residential (other than hotels and serviced apartments) properties, including stand-alone assets and comprehensive mixed-use (predominantly retail-based) developments in Hong Kong.
“Our focus will remain retail-oriented properties. Expansion of our investment strategy to include non-residential properties will offer greater flexibility in our business, allow us to seize more investment opportunities, and enhance our competitive edge. The augmented investment strategy will build on our three-pronged business model covering asset management, asset enhancement and asset acquisition,” Mr Hongchoy added.
Poll results of the AGM are available on “Investor Relations” section of The Link’s corporate website at
www.thelinkreit.com .