The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

Towngas, is the sole provider of

towngas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

in Hong Kong. Founded in 1862, it is one of the oldest listed companies in the territory.

History

In February 1862, the concession to supply gas to the city of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

(the centre of which now referred to as

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

), was obtained from then governor Sir Hercules Robinson by William Glen, a newcomer to the gas industry. Incorporation took place on 3 June 1862 and, by 3 December 1864 that year, there were of pipes and 500 gas lamps along Queen's Road and Upper Valley Road. Across the

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

, residents in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...

continued to rely on candles and oil lamps until gas was laid on 28 years later. The company's original generating plant, the first in Asia, stood on the waterfront at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

near

Whitty Street Whitty Street is a street in Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Named after R.C. Whitty, the first manager of Hong Kong and China Gas Company, p. 248 the street is well known as one of seven terminals of the Hong Kong Tramways. The ...

and provided gas for lighting to government offices and army barracks as well as Jardine's offices, the Hong Kong Dispensary and the Hong Kong Hotel. The plant was coal fired and produced of gas per day. It was run directly from Britain until 1954 when a majority shareholding was purchased by local firm

Wheelock and Marden Company Limited Wheelock and similar may refer to: Firms and buildings * Cooper Wheelock, a manufacturer of fire alarm and general signaling products * Wheelock and Company, formerly British Hong Wheelock and Marden Company Limited * Wheelock College, a small ...

who moved the company's registered domicile from the UK to Hong Kong. As of 2011, the only surviving four gas lamps installed by the company are situated at the top and bottom of a flight of broad granite steps linking Ice House Street and Duddell Street. These are still maintained by Towngas, while the site is one of the

Declared monuments of Hong Kong Declared monuments of Hong Kong are places, structures or buildings legally declared to receive the highest level of protection. In Hong Kong, declaring a monument requires consulting the Antiquities Advisory Board, the approval of the Chief Exec ...

Gas production and network

The company imports natural gas from Australia by sea and stores it at the Dapeng liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Shenzhen under a 25-year contract. A submarine pipeline connects the Dapeng terminal to Towngas' Tai Po plant. The Tai Po plant produces 97% of its town gas output while the remaining 3% is produced at the Ma Tau Kok plant. The two plants cover 1.8 million households via a network of more than of pipelines throughout Hong Kong. Treated gas from landfill sites is also utilised as fuel to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. In Hong Kong, town gas is produced from naphtha and natural gas. Its major components are hydrogen (49%), methane (28.5%), carbon dioxide (19.5%) and a small amount of carbon monoxide (3%). It supplies towngas to 85% Hong Kong households, and also to commercial and industrial customers. It has over 200 projects in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

including city-gas, water supply, emerging environmentally-friendly energy and telecommunications.

Property development

The company also engages in property development projects. It has a 15% share in the International Finance Centre and 50% share in Grand Promenade, both in Hong Kong, as well as the Grand Waterfront. All are investments in conjunction with the company's largest shareholder.

Usurpation by ultimate parent

On 3 October 2007,

Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. () is a listed property developer in Hong Kong and a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. The company's principal activities are property development and investment, project management, construction, hotel oper ...

(HLD) proposed to pay market value only to gain control of Towngas. The 39.06 percent stake in Towngas held by subsidiary Henderson Investment was valued at HK$42.86 billion in cash and convertible notes for the purposes of the transaction. Minority shareholders of Henderson Investment, who together held 30.73%, would receive 204.1 million Henderson Land shares and HK$1.19 billion in cash. The offer was considered by analysts to be favourable to the Company, though shareholder activist David Webb criticised the deal saying Henderson was acquiring the stake on the cheap, without paying any

control premium A control premium is an amount that a buyer is sometimes willing to pay over the current market price of a publicly traded company in order to acquire a controlling share in that company. If the market perceives that a public company's profit and ...

to minority shareholders of Henderson Investment. Webb further criticised the nature of the offer as a back-door privatisation of Henderson Investment, which would virtually be a

shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

after the transfer of the stake. On 7 November, Henderson sweetened the offer to appease minority shareholders by increasing the cash portion to HK$2.24 per share. On 7 December 2007, Henderson secured shareholders' support for the usurpation. As of 31 December 2014, HLD was the company's largest shareholder, owning 41.51% of the issued shares of the company.

Lee Shau Kee Lee Shau-kee GBM (; born 7 March 1928 in Shunde, Guangdong, China) is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is a real estate tycoon and majority owner of Henderson Land Development, a property conglomerate with inter ...

, chairman of HLD, is also the chairman of the company.

Exploration operations

Towngas in 2008 agreed to a joint venture with Sunpec and Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum to develop block 3113 in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

with technical assistance from Yunnan Kaiyuan Oil and Gas. The venture discovered light oil in November 2009. This block along with block 2104 has estimated oil reserves of 5.6 billion barrels and natural gas reserves of 66 billion cubic metres.

Accidents

On 14 May 1934, a huge explosion of a gasometer at the company's

plant killed 42, injured many more and gutted five buildings. On 11 April 2006, an explosion caused by leaking towngas in

Ngau Tau Kok Ngau Tau Kok is an area of eastern Kowloon in Hong Kong, in the north of Kwun Tong District east to Kowloon Bay. Largely residential, Ngau Tau Kok has a population in excess of 210,000. Geography In Chinese, Ngau Tau Kok means ''ox horn'' ...

killed two people and injured nine more.

References

Notes

External links

*
Official websiteExplosion photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Kong and China Gas Company Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Service companies of Hong Kong Companies established in 1862 Oil and gas companies of Hong Kong History of foreign trade in China Companies in the Hang Seng Index Henderson Land Development Telecommunications companies of Hong Kong 1862 establishments in Hong Kong