Editing Link REIT (section)

===Initial public offering===
[[Initial public offering|IPO]] of The Link REIT, delayed for a year until 2005 through legal action by housing tenants worried that rents would rise, was eventually 18 times oversubscribed.<ref name=forbes2353844>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080311060742/http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/11/25/afx2353844.html Forbes magazine], 25 November 2005</ref> About 510,000 Hong Kong residents, or seven percent of the city's population, placed US$36&nbsp;billion of orders while institutional investors were ready to commit US$40&nbsp;billion.

The IPO's joint global coordinators were [[Goldman Sachs]], [[HSBC|HSBC Holdings plc]], and [[UBS AG]]. [[JPMorgan Chase]] & Co. was the [[financial adviser]] to the Housing Authority.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0dTsSl1Et2kC&pg=PA22 Playing the REITs Game: Asia's New Real Estate Investment Trusts Page 22]</ref>

The proposed flotation of The Link REIT by the Housing Authority was delayed when a public housing tenant, Lo Siu-lan, challenged the legality of the proposed divestment of the properties.<ref>[https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2005/1114/00823/ewp110.pdf  HKEX News 2005]</ref><ref>[https://www.news.gov.hk/isd/ebulletin/en/category/businessandfinance/050720/html/050720en03002.htm Sale of public housing facilities lawful: CJ July 20, 2005]</ref> Lo's lawyer submitted that the Housing Authority had "breached its duty under the Housing Ordinance to provide housing to people in need. Instead, it was selling assets to a private company, which could sublet the properties at market rates rather than benefiting the underprivileged".<ref name=scmp494213>{{cite news|last1=Hui|first1=Polly|title=Legal aid granted to challenger in Link Reit case|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/494213/legal-aid-granted-challenger-link-reit-case|work=South China Morning Post|date=25 March 2005}}</ref> She represented a concern among many residents of public housing that existing amenities would no longer be public and that The Link would raise rents, thereby forcing price rises in shops without due consideration of the public good. Some NGOs also were concerned that the reduced income of the Housing Authority would eventually lead to rent rises for public tenants. Lo's request for [[judicial review]] of the privatisation was rejected at the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal.<ref name=scmp494213/>

Since the listing in 2005, Link has engaged in a process of 'asset enhancement works', seeking to raise the value of the properties through upgraded physical structure, replacing low-end utility local shops with higher-paying brands and chains, enhanced 'customer service', and promotional activities. The Link also overhauled many of the wet markets under its management. The [[renovation]]s have led to higher rents, higher prices, and the loss of local shops.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yau|first1=Elaine|title=Winners and losers from Link Reit's 2005 takeover of Hong Kong estate malls|url=http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1899882/winners-and-losers-link-reits-2005-takeover-hong-kong-estate-malls|work=South China Morning Post|date=11 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Tse|first1=Pui-man|title=Asset enhancement of shopping centres|url=http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/174587/1/FullText.pdf|publisher=Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong|date=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aveline-Dubach|first1=Natacha|title=Embedment of 'Liquid' Capital into the Built Environment: The Case of REIT Investment in Hong Kong|journal=Issues & Studies|volume=52|issue=4|pages=1640001|date=2017|doi=10.1142/S1013251116400014|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01563507/file/I%26S-Hong%20Kong.pdf}}</ref>