NWS reshuffles leadership

Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng Kar-shun's business empire has announced a series of management reshuffles in New World Development (0017) and NWS (0659), one month after the tycoon said he was still looking for a successor.

NWS has appointed one of Henry Cheng's sons Brian Cheng Chi-ming as the co-chief executive of the infrastructure firm along with Gilbert Ho Chi-hang while redesignating the role of the eldest son Adrian Cheng Chi-kong from an executive director to a non-executive director, according to a filing yesterday.

Patrick Tsang On-yip, Henry Cheng's nephew-in-law and the chief executive of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, has been assigned as a non-executive director as Gerald To Hin-tsun and Dominic Lai step down from the role.

The current chief executive Eric Ma Siu-cheung has resigned to lead the operations of real estate developer NWD.

Ma is an executive director of the developer and will assist chief executive Adrian Cheng "in the daily management and operations of the group's business in Hong Kong" in addition to his role as the chief operating officer, a separate filing showed.

The post was tailor-made for Ma, who served as the Secretary for Development in 2017, as the property giant focuses on developing land it owns in the Northern Metropolis, Bloomberg reported.

Henry Cheng will cease to serve as the chairman and member of the nomination committee of NWS and be succeeded by independent non-executive director Alan Lee Yiu-kwong.

All changes will be effective at the beginning of next year and NWS believes the moves would "enhance transparency and independence of INED nomination and appointment process as well as promoting better practices and standards in board recruitment, appointment, and succession planning."

In a recent interview, Henry Cheng said he was still trying to identify a leader for the family business in an interview last month. The businessman said he's fine with having different family members take over different businesses and may hire outsiders to manage the empire if he can't find a suitable candidate.

Sonia Cheng Chi-man, one of Adrian Cheng's siblings and a joint vice-chairman for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (1929), looks after the Rosewood Hotel Group.

The reshuffles were announced after the completion of the sale of NWS to NWD's controlling shareholder Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for HK$21.8 billion to ease the developer's debt pressure.