* Blackstone Group LP-backed Embassy Office Parks REIT filed an offer document with the Bombay Stock Exchange for its planned IPO, aiming to issue 47.5 billion rupees worth of new units, with 8.76 billion rupees already allocated to strategic investors. The 129,556,000 new units that will be offered in the float are expected to price between 299.00 rupees and 300.00 rupees apiece, with bidding for the units to run March 18-20.
* Oyo Hotels & Homes earmarked US$800 million for its plan to further expand in India and China, The Nikkei Asian Review reported. Aditya Ghosh, CEO for India and South Asia of the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed hospitality chain operator, was cited by the paper as telling reporters in New Delhi that the unicorn startup intends to invest 14 billion rupees in India alone over the next 10 months, and inject US$600 million to its operations in China.
Hong Kong and China
* Wheelock and Co. Ltd.'s profit attributable to equity shareholders fell 16.2% on an annual basis in the year ended Dec. 31, 2018, to HK$17.24 billion from HK$20.57 billion. Accordingly, the Hong Kong-listed developer's EPS decreased during the comparable period by 16.4% to HK$8.41 from HK$10.06, as did its revenue, which dropped 31.7% to HK$48.49 billion from HK$70.95 billion.
* Central China Real Estate Ltd. is expecting at least 40% year-over-year growth in its profit attributable to shareholders for the 2018 financial year. The Hong Kong-listed developer attributed the bullish forecast mainly to an improvement in its gross profit and an annual increase in the net valuation gain on its investment properties.
* Emperor International Holdings Ltd. obtained a HK$2.6 billion unsecured club loan facility with a five-year term from eight banks, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported. The property company intends to use the credit line for general working capital expenditures.
* The city of Dongguan in China eased its real estate tax, following other cities in the country, Caixin Global reported. Aside from allowing property owners to pay a 20% tax on the increase in the price of their property, the levy changes also give property owners the option to pay 2% of the total transaction price for selling a house.
Australia
* As expected, Dexus exercised its pre-emptive right to purchase the remaining 50% stake it does not already own in the A$1.6 billion MLC Centre property in Sydney. The office real estate investment trust, in partnership with its Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, is buying the interest from GPT Group for A$800 million.
Southeast Asia
* Respective affiliates of Hyatt Hotels Corp. and BIM Group agreed to develop a hotel-and-residential project in Phu Quoc, Vietnam. The planned Park Hyatt Phu Quoc is scheduled to open in 2022 and will feature 110 hotel rooms and 65 serviced-apartment units, according to a news release.
* SC Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. is believed to have purchased the Rivervale Mall in Sengkang, Singapore, from U.S.-based property fund manager AEW for S$230 million, reflecting a net yield north of 4%, The (Singapore) Business Times reported.
* CBRE Group Inc. and JLL commenced an expression-of-interest process that will last until April 17 for the 16-story stand-alone office building at 139 Cecil St. in Singapore. The property that previously hit the market in April 2017 with a S$210 million indicative price is fully occupied by Hong Kong-based coworking space provider Campfire Collaborative Spaces.
* Sygnum is in discussion with property companies in Singapore to tokenize parts of their real estate portfolio in the city-state, The (Singapore) Straits Times reported. The fintech startup intends to apply for a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore as part of its plan to provide financial services in the Lion City.
Other real estate news
* Tokyo-headquartered Sumitomo Corp. entered into an agreement with a KKR & Co. affiliate for the acquisition of Nordic parking lot operator Q-Park Operations BV. The deal concerning the biggest parking facility provider in Sweden, Norway and Finland is believed to be worth approximately €400 million.
* Singapore's Temasek Holdings (Pte.) Ltd. is purchasing an approximate 30% stake in Haldor Topsøe A/S, Reuters reported, citing statements from the involved companies. According to an unnamed source with knowledge of the deal, the investment transaction values the Danish engineering company at about US$1.5 billion.
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Rollen Catorce contributed to this report.