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Longfor affiliate in talks for US$800M buy; Blackstone vies for A$450M portfolio

* Longfor Properties Co. Ltd.'s wealth manager, Junson Capital Co. Ltd., is in advanced talks to buy a portfolio of seven to eight hotel assets, comprising boutique hotels and a few resort properties, from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. for as much as US$800 million. An unnamed person with knowledge of the matter was cited in a Bloomberg News report as saying that an agreement for the transaction could be announced within the next few weeks.

* The sale of a portfolio of Melbourne towers has piqued the interest of Blackstone Group LP, Investa Office Fund, superannuation fund ISPT, and possibly Dexus and Mirvac Group. According to The Australian Financial Review, bids for the 50% interest in the portfolio, consisting of three buildings owned by Melbourne's Werdiger family, have already been submitted, with the price tipped to reach as much as A$450 million.

Hong Kong and China

* Wing Tai Properties Ltd. is expecting proceeds of about HK$2.82 billion from its proposed divestment of the W Square commercial property in Hong Kong to Top Sincerity Ltd. for nearly HK$2.85 billion. The company said it will use the expected amount to finance its business expansion and for general working capital.

* Facebook Inc. and international law firm Baker McKenzie committed to lease a combined 200,000 square feet of space in Swire Properties Ltd.'s One Taikoo Place office development in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported.

One Taikoo Place, which offers 1 million square feet of office space, is a core component of Swire Properties' HK$15 billion Taikoo Place redevelopment project, which is expected to be completed in 2018.

* Greentown Ideal Town Construction Group Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Greentown China Holdings Ltd., entered into an agreement with CCCC Investment Co. Ltd. and CCCC Southwest Investment and Development Co. Ltd. for the formation of a joint venture that will have a registered capital of 400 million yuan.

The proposed joint venture will carry out construction works on the China Agricultural Expo Town Project in Chengdu, China, according to a filing.

* Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd.'s contracted sales for January grew 75% year over year to approximately 6.51 billion yuan, representing gross floor sales area of 488,900 square meters.

* Sunac China Holdings Ltd.'s participation in the consortium that is planning to invest roughly US$5.38 billion for a 14% stake in Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. Ltd. will have no immediate impact to its B2 corporate family rating, B3 senior unsecured rating or stable ratings outlook, according to Moody's Investors Service.

In a separate note, the rating agency also said that Dalian Wanda Commercial's proposed disposal of overseas assets along with the impending investment by the consortium that also involves Tencent Holdings Ltd., Suning Holdings Group Co. Ltd. and JD.com Inc., is credit-positive for the Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd. subsidiary.

* The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will audit property developers' loans, which grew 28% last year to HK$150 billion, to decide whether tighter control is needed, Hong Kong Economic Journal reported. According to the banks, some property developers have been seizing the low-interest-rate environment to accumulate loans for future developments.

* Home prices in Shenzhen saw a continuous drop for 16 months and fell 1.3% in January compared to the previous year, Xinhua News Agency reported. Average new-home prices equated to 54,240 yuan per square meter, and units sold dropped 14.5% from the previous month to 2,778 units.

Japan

* Nomura Real Estate Master Fund is planning to buy nine properties in Japan for a combined ¥29.82 billion from Nomura Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. The fund intends to partially finance the proposed acquisition using proceeds from its up to ¥20.00 billion public offering of 132,000 new investment units, with 6,670 additional units allocated for issuance to third parties.

* Japan Excellent Inc. filed an application with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau for the registration of a ¥100.00 billion shelf of investment corporation bonds, which the company intends to issue between Feb. 9, 2018, and Feb. 8, 2020.

* New York-based co-working startup WeWork Cos. is looking to expand its Japanese operations by opening offices in Osaka, Yokohama and Fukuoka within the next 12 to 14 months, Bloomberg reported, citing WeWork CEO for Japan Chris Hill.

The statement followed the launch of WeWork's first Japanese co-working space at Mori Building Co.'s Ark Hills complex, which features 886 desks. Openings for a location in Marunouchi Kitaguchi and for two more sites in Tokyo are scheduled March 1 and April 1, respectively.

Australia

* Dexus' property platform collected approximately A$38.2 million after selling a roughly 30,400-square-meter Myer distribution center in the Melbourne suburb of Altona North to a Lendlease Corp. Ltd. investment platform.

Philippines

* DoubleDragon Properties Corp. is planning to jointly develop with other partners the Philippines' biggest hotel in terms of room number on a two-hectare site within a 150-hectare estate owned by Megaworld Corp. subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts Inc. on the island of Boracay.

The planned Hotel101 Resort-Boracay will feature 1,001 rooms and will have specific areas that are powered by solar panels, according to a news release.

India

* Godrej Properties Ltd. is set to develop two new projects in Bengaluru and another in Noida under separate joint venture agreements. One of the projects in Bengaluru, a partnership with Sai Srushti Group, will mark Godrej's first plotted land development, which will cover about 2.15 million square feet on the 100-acre site.

Singapore

* Frasers Commercial Trust said it fully utilized the roughly S$100.0 million proceeds from its private placement of 67,567,000 new units priced at S$1.48 apiece.

According to the Singapore-listed trust, approximately S$98.5 million of the proceeds was directed toward the joint £174.6 million purchase of the Farnborough Business Park in the U.K. with Frasers Centrepoint Ltd. The remaining S$1.5 million was used to pay the joint underwriters and book runners of the private placement.

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The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific, Real Estate edition is updated by 6:30 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as of publication time.

Rollen Catorce and Emily Lai contributed to this report.

As of Feb. 1, US$1 was equivalent to 6.30 yuan, ¥109.45 and S$1.31.