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Westfield, Unibail-Rodamco to form €61B company; Brookfield to buy Indian park

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Westfield, Unibail-Rodamco to form €61B company; Brookfield to buy Indian park

* Unibail-Rodamco SE, Europe's largest listed real estate investment trust, has agreed to buy Australian mall giant Westfield Corp. in a US$15.68 billion deal, which was unanimously approved by Unibail's supervisory board and Westfield's board.

If pursued, the merger of the two landlords will create an entity with a gross market value of €61.1 billion and will extend Unibail's reach to the U.S. and the U.K. The offer, which comprises 0.01844 Unibail-Rodamco stapled security plus US$2.67 in cash for each Westfield security, still requires the approval of both Unibail's and Westfield's shareholders, among other conditions.

* Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is holding exclusive negotiations with Essar Group to buy the latter's Equinox Business Park in Mumbai, India, after a 24.00 billion-Indian-rupee deal with RMZ Corp Holdings Pte. Ltd. failed to progress, Livemint reported, citing two people aware of the development.

In early 2016, Essar agreed to sell the property developed by its Equinox Realty Holding Ltd. subsidiary to RMZ, but according to unnamed sources, the parties were unable to agree on final terms of the deal.

* For 2018, JLL is expecting Asia Pacific's commercial real estate market transaction volume to grow by 5% to US$140 billion from US$135 billion.

It comes after deals in the sector amounted to US$95.8 billion in the first nine months of 2017, 11% higher compared with the same period in 2016. The increase was fueled by landmark deals within the period, including CapitaLand Commercial Trust's S$2.09 billion purchase of BlackRock Asia Property Fund III LP's Asia Square Tower 2 and the HK$40.2 billion divestment of CK Asset Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong and China

* C.H.M.T. Peaceful Development Asia Property Ltd., the consortium buying CK Asset's The Center property, is reportedly looking to secure a mezzanine loan and a senior loan to cover up to 90% of the US$5.2 billion proposed acquisition it made in Hong Kong.

* CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. is planning to issue US$300 million in senior perpetual securities with hopes of raising roughly US$295 million to refinance existing debt.

* New World Development Co. Ltd. and Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. released the price list for units on offer at the 63-unit Park Reach project that the two are jointly developing in Yuen Long in Hong Kong's New Territories, the South China Morning Post reported.

The selling price for the project averaged HK$14,975 per square foot after the 5% maximum discount was factored in. The cheapest units in the development would cost HK$2.99 million via the lump-sum payment scheme, according to the publication.

* Shenzhen Investment Ltd.'s contracted sales grew 7.7% year over year in November to about 280 million yuan, representing sales area of approximately 27,464 square meters. The group's contracted sales in the first 11 months of 2017 were down 43.0% year on year to 10.79 billion yuan.

* Cheung Kong Bond Securities (03) Ltd. is planning to redeem by Jan. 24, 2018, all its outstanding 5.375% guaranteed senior perpetual securities, which as of Dec. 12 amounted to roughly US$425.3 million. The securities, guaranteed by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., were issued at an aggregate principal amount of US$500.0 million in 2013.

* Cheung Kong Infrastructure Finance (BVI) Ltd., an affiliate of CK Hutchison, applied to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange its issuance of €600.0 million in 1.00% guaranteed bonds due 2024. Listing of the bonds is expected to take effect Dec. 13, according to a filing.

* China Merchants Group Ltd. reached a strategic partnership deal with The Construction Bank of China to develop its long-term rental property business. The duo said they will leverage each other's experience in financing, construction and market knowledge to work together on finding rental properties and providing relevant financial services.

The two companies have registered the launch of a total of 20 billion yuan of asset-backed notes with relevant institutions, of which 4 billion yuan in 15-year asset-backed notes will be issued in the first phase.

* Land transaction fees in China rose 35.3% to 4.14 trillion yuan in the first 11 months, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

Zhang Da Wei, chief analyst at Centaline Group, said transaction fees in a majority of mainland cities have broken records despite strict regulations in the property market. Wei added that supplies of mid-priced properties and rental housing are expected to significantly increase in 2018, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Southeast Asia

* Filipino developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. is transforming a 17.1-hectare golf course and a 2.2-hectare land plot in Matina, Davao City, in the Philippines into a mixed-use central business district under a joint venture deal signed with four local companies.

The planned Davao Matina Business Park will include seven office buildings, four retail buildings, 29 residential condominium buildings, six townhome-style buildings, a hotel, a convention center, a medical building and a civic/community center.

* S&P Global Ratings downgraded its long-term corporate credit rating on PT Lippo Karawaci to B from B+, with a stable outlook.

* Owners of the 19-unit Cairnhill Heights freehold residential development in Singapore's District 9 have decided to sell the property en bloc with a reserve price of more than S$80 million, The (Singapore) Business Times reported.

Japan

* Nomura Real Estate Master Fund is selling the roughly 30,421.70-square-meter Funabashi Logistics Center, in Chiba, to an unidentified buyer for about ¥5.48 billion.

* Resorttrust Inc. will open business hotels in Toyo and Kumamoto Prefecture as an upgraded version of its existing Hotel Trusty brand with bigger rooms and high-end furnishings, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

* A policy advisory panel studying ways to utilize private land properties without identifiable owners submitted its interim report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on Dec. 12, Kentsu Shinbunsha reported.

Australia

* Meanwhile, Brookfield Asset has signed the National Australia Bank Ltd. in a 12-year leasing deal to take up at least 43,000 square meters of the A$800 million tower that the Canadian giant is developing at Melbourne's 405 Bourke St., The Australian reported.

The tower, now 50% owned by ISPT because of the leasing deal, is designed to have 39 levels, including 31 floors of office space.

* National Storage REIT is spending A$102 million for the acquisition of 11 storage centers, with approximately 62,000 square meters of net lettable area across 5,500 storage units. The REIT is seeking to raise A$50 million from an institutional placement and up to A$15 million from a security purchase plan to cover the cost of the purchase.

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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.

S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.

Rollen Catorce, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.

As of Dec. 12, US$1 was equivalent to 6.62 yuan, 64.56 Indian rupees, ¥113.68 and S$1.35.