Shanghai to be 2nd Tingyi headquarters

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp, the company that owns instant noodle brand Master Kong and specializes in beverages and instant food, intends to establish an operations headquarters in Shanghai.

Tingyi's spokesman Chen Gongru said the move is part of a strategy to create twin headquarters in Tianjin and Shanghai, National Business Daily reported. Chen was not available for further explanation on Monday.

Given Shanghai's strategic location, its position as the business center of China and being rich in human resources, the company believes locating its operating headquarters there will effectively consolidate its internal and external resources, promote administrative efficiency, improve the hiring and development of talented people and strengthen the group's leading position in product development, Tingyi said in a company filing.

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Tingyi will invest about 2.5 billion yuan ($406 million) to acquire office and commercial blocks from WealthCity for its use, according to the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday. WealthCity is an investment holding company that owns a property project under development in Hongqiao town, Minhang district, Shanghai.

Hongqiao town is a commercial area in west Shanghai equipped with easy connections to an international airport, as well as high-speed and metro railways and good roads.

The location provides closer ties both domestically and overseas, as well as savings on transportation costs, and will be beneficial to the group's primary operations in China and its vision of the rest of the world, the company said.

The project comprises four office and commercial blocks and related ancillary facilities. It is expected to be completed by the end of March 2015. WealthCity is owned by Wei Ying-chiao, an executive director and a substantial shareholder of the Tingyi group.

The company intends to hold the project for its own use and has no current plan to resell any part of it. Tingyi started its instant noodle segment in 1992 at its current headquarters in Tianjin and expanded into the bakery and beverage sectors in 1996.

According to market research company The Nielsen Corp, based on sales value, the company was the market leader in instant noodles and ready-to-drink teas in December 2012, holding 56.4 percent and 44.2 percent of market shares, respectively.

Tingyi opened an operating center for its beverages in July 2013 to better manage its goods against fierce competition, attract talented staff and make the most of the advantage brought by strategic cooperation with PepsiCo Inc and Disneyland.

"Shanghai, with its advantages in financial services, logistics services and infrastructure, is becoming an attractive place to locate big companies' headquarters. It has an affluent hinterland market and also acts as a center for international communications," said Shen Yuliang, a professor at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.