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Unibail-Westfield merger implemented; Google buys Sydney sites for A$150M

* Unibail-Rodamco SE's US$15.68 billion takeover of Westfield Corp. was implemented June 7, as planned, formally signaling the creation of an entity that holds a €62 billion portfolio of 102 shopping centers across 13 countries. On the same date, OneMarket Ltd.'s demerger from Westfield was also put into effect.

* Google Inc. is acquiring two sites in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont from Chinese-backed developer Aqualand in a deal worth over A$150 million, The Australian reported. The technology giant's purchase of the properties being used by the Channel Seven television network as home-base and car park is part of its hunt for its Sydney headquarters, a transaction that reportedly piqued the interest of both Mirvac Group and Dexus.

Australia

* Blackstone Group LP is reportedly selling its half-stake in Westpac Banking Corp.'s Sydney office complex to Australian fund manager Industry Superannuation Property Trust, or ISPT, for an undisclosed amount. Blackstone's co-owner in the Westpac Place building, Mirvac, previously exercised its pre-emptive rights to buy the private equity giant's stake in the asset, which was tipped to fetch as much as A$850 million.

The reported negotiations could formally end the pursuit for Blackstone's stake in the property by interested investors such as Charter Hall Group, GPT Group, and the Deutsche Bank-represented National Pension Service of Korea. ISPT was previously ruled out of contention, along with JPMorgan Asset Management Ltd.

* Lendlease Corp. Ltd. secured planning approval for the development of its Daramu House engineered-timber office building in Sydney's Barangaroo South. The proposed more than A$200 million building will feature more than 10,000 square meters of commercial floor space across six floors and approximately 680 square meters of ground-floor retail space upon its 2019 completion.

* Commercial real estate debt specialist MaxCap Group provided A$150 million to the development of the Skytower building in Brisbane, IPE Real Assets reported. MaxCap's involvement gave U.S. investment management company Invesco Ltd. an avenue to exit AMP Capital and Billbergia Group's high-rise development, billed to be the city's tallest building.

* Landcom, the New South Wales Government's land and property development organization, began the expressions-of-interest process for a greenfield land site in Sydney's Castle Hill suburb designated for a mixed-use development to include over 1,600 new homes for low- to middle-income workers, The Australian Financial Review reported.

Hong Kong and China

* Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the new chairman of CK Asset Holdings Ltd. and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., is planning to redevelop the 22-story Hutchison House office building in Hong Kong's central district into a structure that could be worth between HK$20 billion and HK$25 billion after redevelopment, the South China Morning Post reported, citing three people familiar with the plan.

Tenants of the HK$7.7 billion property, which has a total gross floor area of 500,000 square feet, were reportedly notified to vacate the building within six months.

* Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority said the scope of ongoing archaeological work at the site of a residential joint venture with CK Asset Holdings would be expanded, following the discovery of relics that date back 600 years, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported, citing Radio Television Hong Kong.

The affected development covers a 50,000-square-foot site in Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong, that is expected to yield 750 apartments upon its completion by 2023 or 2024.

* Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. recorded contracted sales of about 334.68 billion yuan in the first five months of 2018, higher than the roughly 244.22 billion yuan achieved in the prior-year period. The five-month 2018 figure represents gross floor sales area of approximately 35.29 million square meters.

* The respective five-month contracted sales of Shimao Property Holdings Ltd., Hopson Development Holdings Ltd. and Longfor Properties Co. Ltd. jumped year over year in May by 53%, 12.8% and 0.49% to an estimated 51.58 billion yuan, 4.11 billion yuan and 76.12 billion yuan.

* Guorui Properties Ltd. applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange for the listing of its US$100.0 million issuance of 10.0% senior notes due June 7, 2020. Listing of the notes is expected to take effect June 8.

India

* Indian financial services company IIFL Holdings Ltd. registered its IIFL Real Estate Investment Trust with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The registration places IIFL Holdings among other companies seeking to list REITs in India.

* Hines India Ltd., DLF Ltd.'s co-owner in the One Horizon Centre property, is taking to the market its half-stake in the 800,000-square-foot commercial building along Gurugram's Golf Course Road. Property consultants expect the asset to fetch between 7.00 billion rupees and 8.00 billion rupees.

Singapore

* Two freehold residential development sites in prime Singapore districts hit the heating en bloc market of the Lion City. The 54,318-square-foot Elizabeth Towers property in District 9 is asking S$610 million for its tender that will run until July 19, while the 75,479-square-foot Gilstead Court in the Newton/Novena enclave is up for grabs until July 10 for S$168 million.

* Property developer Low Keng Huat signed a S$100 million agreement to buy the freehold site at 67 Cairnhill Road and two adjacent plots at Town Subdivision 27, The (Singapore) Business Times reported. The 19,800-square-foot residential site was marketed in October 2017 with a S$115 million guide price.

Japan

* Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. will work with Takenaka Corp. for the construction of the Shin-Miyashita Park development project in Shibuya, Tokyo. The project will consist of a commercial facility, a hotel and a park on the roof, Daily Engineering & Construction News reported.

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. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.

Rollen Catorce and John Chan contributed to this report.

As of June 7, US$1 was equivalent to 6.39 yuan, 67.36 rupees and S$1.33.