Buying a Hong Kong Owned Chinese Company Out of the Box


Global From Asia   |   June 19, 2018

We have heard a lot about buying a shelf company in Hong Kong, this is common talk in the blogosphere. But have we heard about buying a Hong Kong company that has a Chinese WFOE (Wholly foreign owned entity) with it?

Today, we will dig into this, why you would consider it, and what you need to do

Getting More and More People Approaching Me To Buy / Sell Their HK/ China Business

As the Global From Asia blog gets out there more and more, we get emails from people for all kinds of things. One has been people who are looking to buy or sell their businesses here in Hong Kong and China. It is a pretty complex process, and there are a few different case studies we can cover in future blogs.

One I received recently is interesting. The client has a couple of Hong Kong company businesses that each own their own Chinese WFOE company, all setup and operating. He would be open to selling and transferring it to a new buyer.

He sees that there is more and more discussions about buying companies here. Getting plugged in fast with the China market for those who still haven’t tapped in yet.

Why Buy a HK / WFOE Combo?

So as part of the sale, it would not include the customers or supplier database. It would be the structures set up with their licenses and banking accounts. So you’re not buying this business for the customer assets or any IP – but instead to:

  • Save time. Getting banks in HK has become slow and tedious. China is also, and has been like this for quite some time.
  • Business in a box. All the banking arrangements are setup, and the licenses you need for an import / export company are ready to go.
  • Aged company. These are older businesses. Having some years already put away for the company history always helps out. Use it when applying for financing or other “intimate” business relationships.
  • Get all the licenses you need, right away. Many people want to do business in China, but aren’t sure if they are getting all the licenses and paperwork they need. This will make sure you have it all, used for years that way.

How Would a Transfer of a Hong Kong Company with a Chinese WFOE work?

Ok, so you’re interested in this and still with me here – great!

Because the Chinese company is 100% owned by the Hong Kong company – all the activity would happen at the Hong Kong level. You would become the new owner and director of the HK limited company. Then you would automatically own the Chinese subsidiary because it is owned by the HK parent company.

There would be transferring of bank account signers on the Hong Kong side as well as the Chinese side, and that would do in person.

There would also be some updating of the legal representative in the WFOE side, which the seller can help you with.

So, you will then be the owner of an optimized and functional trading company. That is, without the months of headaches and the current issues with banking.

How Much For What You Will Get

You’re now asking yourself, ok, how much? The price won’t be less than if you started one from scratch – but this shouldn’t be the reason you’re doing this. This is to get an operational and functional import and export business without the headaches.

This is for trading and manufacturing WFOES with full import-export rights. This means you can use it for VAT rebate facilities and even domestic sales.

The price is negotiable for how much involvement you need from the seller, and we will take serious inquiries if you contact us.

The price range is starting at $200,000 US dollars to $350,000 USD. The range is dependent on your specific terms and requirements.

Sound Feasible?

I’d love to hear your feedback and comments on buying a full on HK/China trading company operation. This is for serious business owners who are doing serious business in their home countries and want to plug right into the Hong Kong and China market fast and seamlessly.

Will keep people posted on the progress, in the meantime please leave comments or questions about this in the comment section below.