Tender offers for duty-free shop space at the Lo Wu, Hung Hom and Lok Ma Chau stations are being evaluated by the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR).
MTR is treating the two tenders comprising Lo Wu and Hung Hom as one entity, with Lok Ma Chau as a separate contract. However, it is not releasing details about the tenders or the number of companies involved.
Meanwhile the tenders follow the usual pre-bid stages, including optional on-site visits for potential tenderers. Interested parties said to have taken part in the visits include China Duty Free Group, DFS Group, Dufry and the incumbent Anway/Sky Connection.
An evaluation panel is expected to come up with its recommendation at the end of this month, with a final award probably being announced in October.
The minimum guarantee acceptable for the Lo Wu and Hung Hom business is HK$87 million (US$11.2 million) a month or 42 per cent of sales, whichever is higher.
Lo Wu is Hong Kong’s busiest immigration control point for passengers to and from China. Duty-free sales there last year reached HK$2 billion.
For Lok Ma Chau, where the new contract set to begin in August next year, the minimum acceptable monthly bid has been set at $77 million or 42 per cent of sales, whichever is higher.