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BlackRock backs bid for Blackstone asset; Link REIT wraps up HK$23B deal

* Global investment management company BlackRock Inc. is supporting Fortius Funds Management Pty. Ltd.'s A$140 million bid for a 22,196-square-meter property in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon that Blackstone Group LP is selling, The Australian reported.

The HomeHQ Artarmon center, formerly owned by Charter Hall Group, is fully occupied by tenants such as Freedom, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Snooze, Fantastic Furniture and Pillow Talk.

* Link Real Estate Investment Trust's HK$23 billion agreement to sell a 17-mall portfolio in Hong Kong to a Gaw Capital Partners-led consortium is completed.

During its initial stages, the proposed disposal of the mall portfolio became the subject of controversy after a lawmaker group in Hong Kong called for an investigation into the deal and the REIT, claiming that the transaction might affect low-income families in the special administrative region.

Australia

* Listed property investor and funds manager 360 Capital Group is planning to list on the Australian stock exchange the bourse's first mortgage trust later in 2018, The Australian reported. The group's managing director, Tony Pitt, was quoted in the report as saying that "the proposed fund will provide retail investors access to strong monthly returns."

* Co-working space operators WeWork Cos. and the Regus-owned Spaces brand are having separate discussions to respectively lease space at Lendlease Corp. Ltd.'s Collins Street and Melbourne Quarter projects in Melbourne, The Australian reported.

* Singapore-listed developer Roxy-Pacific Holdings Ltd. is selling its office property at 117 Clarence St. in Sydney. According to The Australian Financial Review, the 12,571-square-meter building with hotel redevelopment potential could fetch more than A$150 million.

* Sydney property investor Victor Comino struck a roughly A$100 million deal to buy the Phoenix Building at 160 Pitt St. in Sydney, which houses investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd., the AFR reported.

* The superannuation fund-owned Melbourne Airport tapped AccorHotels to manage a 464-room, seven-story hotel that it is planning to develop. The AFR reported that the new hotel will be L-shaped and will feature three-star Ibis Styles and four-star Novotel accommodations.

* Logistics specialist LOGOS is teaming up with an Australian investor for its plan to establish the LOGIS Australia Logistics Portfolio core venture, which will have an investment capacity of roughly A$500 million.

Vietnam

* Vietnamese property developer Vingroup Joint Stock Co. is believed to be seeking the assistance of four offshore banks for the planned US$1 billion IPO of its Vinhomes residential property business. If pursued, the IPO could be one of the largest in the country.

* CapitaLand Ltd. is marking its first integrated development in Hanoi with a US$217 million, 25-story building that will be constructed at a recently acquired site. The proposed development will feature a 380-unit residence, around 230,000 square feet of office space and more than 208,000 square feet of retail space.

Japan

* Diversified real estate investment trust Daiwa House REIT Investment Corp. will spend approximately ¥96.98 billion for its planned acquisition of 12 logistics properties, three retail assets and one hotel from multiple vendors including Daiwa House Industry Co. Ltd.

* Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment Corp. is seeking to raise about ¥13.11 billion from its planned public offering of 109,800 new investment units priced at ¥119,437 apiece. Funds raised from the issuance will be directed toward the industrial J-REIT's plan to buy 10 properties at home for approximately ¥21.36 billion.

* The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said housing starts nationwide fell 13.2% year over year to 66,358 in January, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. New apartment construction dropped 50.2% year over year to 6,525 units.

* Tokyo-based apartment management company Shinoken Group will launch a ¥30 billion fund for institutional investors seeking to invest in its portfolio of apartment complexes, The Nikkei reported.

* The Condominium Management Companies Association said its survey of condominium associations of 365 member companies showed that 80.5% have a ban on Airbnb-style private lodging in their properties, Jutaku-Shimpo-Sha reported.

Hong Kong and China

* Farsight Investment Ltd. settled its HK$2.00 billion acquisition of the mixed-use Provident Square property in Hong Kong from CK Asset Holdings Ltd. affiliate Fortune REIT.

* The plan of Colour Life Services Group Co. Ltd. to buy two fellow Fantasia Holdings Group Co. Ltd. subsidiaries under agreements totaling 2.01 billion yuan gained shareholders' approval during an extraordinary general meeting.

Under the four sale deals signed for the transaction, subsidiaries of Colour Life will gain full ownership of real estate management companies and indirect Fantasia units Wanxiangmei Property Management Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Xingfu Wanxiang Investment Partnership Co.

* Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. is in talks to acquire Chinese company Guangwu Real Estate Group, which focuses on property development in Hainan Province and the Pearl River Delta, National Business News reported. It is not confirmed if it will take over 45% or the whole of the company.

* Guangzhou Yuetai Group will acquire a 2.33 million-square-meter site in Jiangmen city in the Chinese province of Guangdong from Hong Kong mogul Li Ka-shing, The Paper reported. There are plans to build the site into a luxury travel and residential area with luxury hotels, marine clubs and other business facilities.

* China Merchants Land Ltd. settled its HK$608.6 million agreement with China Merchants Properties Development Ltd. to formally acquire Cheuk Tat Development Ltd.

China Merchants Land's recently completed deal with a subsidiary of its controlling shareholder, China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co. Ltd., forms part of a two-transaction agreement signed Aug. 18, 2016, for the company's purchase of two sites in Hong Kong where it intends to develop serviced residence projects.

* Landsea Green Properties Co. Ltd.'s proposal to change its name to Landsea Green Group Co. Ltd. was given the green light after securing 100% of the votes cast at a special general meeting.

* China CITIC Bank stopped offering personal property-backed loans of over 2 million yuan in Beijing, Caixin reported. According to a source close to the central bank, there are no specific rules regarding the scale of loans provided by individual commercial banks, and the new approach is to prevent people from borrowing money to speculate in the property market.

Other real estate news

* Australia-listed Cromwell Property Group will offer €1.1 billion of European assets over the next 12 months to capitalize on the strong demand for stabilized assets, IPE Real Assets reported. Cromwell CEO Paul Weightman was cited by the publication as saying that the developer also intends to scale up by 50% its European platform, which has €4 billion of assets under management.

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.

Cam Nones, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.

As of Feb. 28, US$1 was equivalent to 6.33 yuan and ¥106.72.