Nongfu Spring, a Chinese packaged-water supplier, has purchased a building on property near Nashua, New Hampshire. It’s not uncommon for a foreign company to buy land or a building for a new factory or distribution center. What’s raising eyebrows, though, is how much Nongfu Spring reportedly paid: More than four times the assessed value.
Nongfu Spring is China’s largest bottled water company, owned by Zhong Shanshan, the nation’s wealthiest billionaire. In January 2025, its U.S. subsidiary, NF North America, acquired the nearly 340,000-square-foot industrial building on land in Nasua for $67 million. The property had been vacant for more than a decade and was assessed at around $16 million, raising immediate questions about the buyer and the justification for the above-market value.
