Acker sale makes HK$45m

Acker Merrall & Condit’s latest Hong Kong sale achieved HK$45 million, which the house says will put it on track to be the world’s leading auction house in the first quarter of this year.

Held on 21 March, the sale saw mainland Chinese buyers account for 22% of the overall sale and Hong Kong buyers 53% as the house continued its “strong momentum in Asia” so far this year.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Henri Jayer and Pétrus were the unsurprising names at the top of the sales list but Le Pin and Coche-Dury were also to be counted in the top 25 and there was strong bidding for Leroy, Lafite and Krug as well plus much attention paid to some lots of The Macallan and Japanese whiskies such as Karuizawa and Ichiro.

A magnum of Egon Muller’s 2005 Sharzhofberger trockenbeerenauslese made HK$69,160.

John Kapon, Acker’s CEO, said: “It was exciting to see the Mainland surge ahead and taking a more prominent role on the sales floor, a sure sign of what’s more to come. Of course, Hong Kongers still took the largest share of the overall sale, but the wealth seems to be spreading.

“Of the sale’s top ten buyers, only one was from Hong Kong, with two from the mainland, two from Taiwan and three from the US. The last two top buyers were from the local Hong Kong trade, which is always a good sign of a healthy market.

“April will see two new developments for us in Asia, with our first ‘Connoisseurs Club’ sale on 16 April, along with the launch of HK only internet auctions during the second half of the month. More info to follow soon, but first we are going to close out the first quarter yet again as the World’s number one firm on 28 March in NYC.”