* Two of Blackstone Group LP's Asian funds are close to raising an estimated total of US$9.25 billion. According to industry sources cited by The Australian, funds raised through the Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia II fund will be invested in Australia, China, India and Southeast Asia, while money sourced from its Blackstone Capital Partners Asia Fund I will be utilized for company buyouts in the region.
The U.S.-based firm is conducting due diligence on the Australia-listed Investa Office Fund, which it is offering to buy as part of a A$3.14 billion agreement.
* Singaporean investor Ara Asset Management Ltd. completed its A$405 million acquisition of Redefine Properties Ltd.'s 19.5% stake in real estate developer Cromwell Property Group, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported. The roughly 3.73 billion-rand deal for the transaction was signed in March.
Hong Kong and China
* Shareholders of Zall Group Ltd. unanimously approved a resolution to change the company's English name to Zall Smart Commerce Group Ltd. during a May 30 general meeting. In March, Zall said its new name will better reflect the nature of its business.
* ITC Properties Group Ltd. is warning of a significant year-over-year decrease in its net profit for the year ended March 31. The Hong Kong-based company attributed the expected decline largely to a decrease in the net profit of an associate during the reporting year.
* GR Properties Ltd. agreed to buy Wise Expert Investment Ltd. from a company held by two of its directors for about HK$1.54 billion. GR Properties will allocate roughly HK$1.18 billion of convertible bonds to the sellers as payment for Wise Expert, which owns a mixed-use property in Beijing with residential, hotel, serviced apartment and office components.
* China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co. Ltd. won a bid for a 149,700-square-meter land parcel in Jiangsu, China, for 1.69 billion yuan, Caijing (Beijing) reported. The company paid a land premium of 17.6% for the residential land parcel, which has a construction area of 239,500 square meters.
* Logan Property Holdings Co. Ltd. submitted the 3.26 billion-yuan winning tender for an 82,000-square-meter land intended for commercial and residential uses, ifeng reported. The land parcel provides a construction area of 492,500 square meters.
* Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. said the prices of the remaining unsold 70 flats in its Mount Regency project in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, will likely increase by 10%, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported. So far, the diversified property developer collected HK$2 billion from its divestment of 303 apartments in the project.
Meanwhile, Sun Hung Kai is one of the 20 parties bidding for the Tung Chau Street/Kweilin Street redevelopment project in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, The Standard noted in the same report. Other bidders include CK Asset Holdings Ltd., Wheelock Properties Ltd. and K. Wah International Holdings Ltd.
* A residential project being developed in Xian, China, by a Sunac China Holdings Ltd. joint venture is being probed by the local housing authority following reports claiming that some local government officials were involved in rigging the sales lottery for the project.
Australia
* According to Moody's Investors Service, debt-funded buybacks have the potential to weaken the credit metrics of its four rated Australian real estate investment trusts, namely Scentre Group, Dexus, Mirvac Group and Charter Hall Retail REIT. The analyst noted that the impact of possible buybacks will depend on the number of units involved.
* Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd.'s master-planned residential development in Melbourne's Mambourin suburb will feature 4,500 housing lots, 5,000 square meters of office space, 6,000 square meters of retail space and possibly four schools, the AFR reported.
Country Garden bought the 363-hectare site being used for the development from Phileo Australia under a A$400 million deal struck in July 2017.
* Real estate group Markham is selling the A-grade mixed-use building at 179 Elizabeth St. in Sydney to a private Macau-based investor for A$265 million, the AFR reported. The reported consideration is higher than the A$250 million asking price attached to the property when it was listed for sale in February.
Japan
* ESR, the Warburg Pincus & Co.-backed pan-Asia logistics real estate developer, raised US$575 million at the final closing of its Redwood Japan Logistics Fund 2, which will target new developments in Japan. Investors of Redwood Japan include German insurance company Allianz Group and an unnamed Southeast Asian pension fund.
* Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. will add about 60 more stores to its Mitsui Outlet Park Kisarazu in the city of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. The shopping mall will reopen in October with 308 stores.
Philippines
* Rockwell Land Corp. flagged the upcoming launch of the second tower in its three-building joint venture project with Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan. According to The Philippine Star, the Arton North tower being built as part of the Arton project in Quezon City will provide approximately 500 housing units.
Rollen Catorce, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.
As of May 30, US$1 was equivalent to 6.42 yuan and 12.55 rand.
