New World Development Company

Launch and rapid growth

The New World Development Company Limited was established on 29 May 1970 to venture into property development. Dr Ho Sin Hang was elected Chairman of the company, while Dr. Cheng Yu-tung was appointed Director and General Manager. Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited was the company's largest shareholder. Cheng Tu Yung had bought large properties during the 1960s, and consolidated his real estate assets in NWD.In October 1972, NWD was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchanges, raising over HK$193 million.On 21 October 1986, Queen Elizabeth II officiated at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the HKCEC.

Reorganization

In February 1992, New World Development was set up. In October 1995, New World Infrastructure Limited was formed to consolidate all of NWD's infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and was listed on HKSE the same month. In April 1997, New World Services Limited was established to consolidate all the services-related units within the group. In July 1999, New World China Land Limited was formed to consolidate all of NWD's property projects in Mainland China, and was listed on HKSE the same month.

In September 2000, the group acquired New World Insurance Services Limited. In September 2001, NWS acquired the entire issued share capital of Ngo Kee Construction Company Limited. In October 2002, Pacific Ports Company Limited acquired the traditional infrastructure assets from NWI, and acquired NWS from NWD.

In January 2003, the reorganization of New World Group was completed. NWS Holdings Limited, after changing its name from Pacific Ports Company Limited, became the group's service flagship with diversified operations in service, infrastructure and ports in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China. All the group's shares were consolidated under the new name NWS Holdings Limited which began trading on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

In May 2005, NWD and Shanghai Industrial jointly invested US$3million into Shinhint Acoustic Link Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based integrated manufacturing services provider for ODM/OEM production of electro-acoustic consumer products. Then it sold Riverside South, a luxury condominium project in New York City on land acquired from Donald Trump, for $1.8 billion – then the largest residential real estate transaction in the history of the city.

Recent developments

In July 2007, New World Department Store China Limited was listed on HKSE. The Guangzhou Dongxin Expressway, in which NWS Holdings held 40.8% equity interest, was officially opened on 31 December 2010. In August 2011, New World Group announced its full support to New World Harbour Race, a sporting event organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association after a 33-year hiatus.In December 2013, NWS Holdings Limited acquired equity shares in Beijing Capital International Airport to become its second largest shareholder. In April 2015, New World Development Company Limited and HIP Company Limited , a wholly owned subsidiary of The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority , established a new joint venture company that own the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, the Renaissance Harbour View and Hyatt Regency TST . The total consideration for the sale and transfer of the Hotels is HK$18,500 million, out of which approximately HK$10,082 million was received by NWD. In 2016, the company decided to shift its strategy towards the country's main cities and move away from second-tier agglomerations.In November 2018, NWD launched the new healthcare brand Humansa. In December 2018, NWS Holdings bought in cash the entire issued capital of the Hong Kong insurer FTLife.In September 2019, the group donated 3 million square feet of its farmland reserves towards building social housing.