Commercial real estate
* SoftBank Group Corp. is pushing for WeWork Cos. Inc. parent The We Co. to shelve its planned IPO, which has received a mild reception from investors, London's Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the discussions. SoftBank is the biggest outside investor in the coworking company, which was valued at $47 billion when SoftBank invested $2 billion in early 2019.
The pushback against the IPO comes at a time when SoftBank is attempting to raise $108 billion for a second iteration of its Vision Fund to invest in technology startups. The publication noted, citing the people, that the Japanese company could face difficulties in raising the fund if WeWork's listing comes at a steep discount to the previous funding round.
* Foreign investments in U.S. commercial real estate totaled $16.9 billion in the first half, dropping almost 50% year over year from a record $32.7 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing CBRE Group Inc. Individual asset and portfolio sales were down 26% year over year, while the spending volume for large mergers and acquisitions dropped 83%.
Spencer Levy, chairman of Americas research for CBRE, attributed foreign investors' hesitation on the slowing U.S. economy and the uncertainty surrounding interest rates. Levy said the slowdown is expected to be temporary with investments to pick up once investors have more clarity.
Canadian investors accounted for $5.3 billion worth of property deals during the first half, followed by investors from Israel, Germany, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, all accounting for roughly $1 billion each.
* Connor Group paid $123 million for a 394-unit midrise apartment building in downtown Tampa, Fla., and rebranded it Anchor Riverwalk from Novel Riverwalk, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported, citing the buyer. The property was developed by Crescent Communities in 2018.
* A Walton Street Capital LLC-controlled debt fund that recently took control of the Waldorf Astoria Chicago hotel at 11 E. Walton St. in Chicago's Gold Coast area is placing the property up for sale, Crain's Chicago Business reported, citing confirmation from sources familiar with the property. A venture between hotelier Laurence Geller and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group was unable to repay a loan it used to finance its $111.9 million acquisition of the hotel in 2015.
Sources familiar with the offering told the publication that the total debt on the 60-story property is more than $90 million.
* DWS Group acquired the 166-unit Domain WeHo apartment complex at 7141 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, Calif., for $103 million, The Real Deal reported, citing property records. The six-story property, completed in 2017 by Trammell Crow Residential, was sold by Barings.
* The Real Deal reported that NAI/Merin Hunter Codman principals Neil Merin, Jordan Paul and Dung Lam, and investor Joseph Sprouls, plan to raise a commercial real estate fund to acquire up to $200 million worth of property in the Southeastern U.S. MHCommercial Real Estate Fund has received commitments from more than 50 limited partners.
* Westmont Living affiliate Senior Living Riverside bought the Altavita Village senior housing property in Riverside, Calif., for $58 million, Multi-Housing News reported. The property, spanning roughly 153 acres at 17050 Arnold Drive, will be rebranded as Westmont Village, with the buyer planning to spend $20 million to convert it into a rental community over several years.
The asset contains 267 independent living cottages, 103 independent living apartments, 70 independent living duplexes, 55 assisted living units, 59 skilled nursing beds and 35 memory care units. The property was 40% occupied at the time of the sale, the report added.
After the bell
* VEREIT Inc. and its operating partnership on Sept. 8 signed a memorandum of understanding related to the settlement of a class-action suit brought against the company, then known as American Realty Capital Properties Inc., related to financial misreporting in 2014 and 2015.
* HCP Inc. agreed to purchase a 224,000-square-foot trophy life-sciences property in the Cambridge submarket of Boston for $332.5 million.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng rose 0.01% to 26,683.68, and the Nikkei 225 gained 0.35% to 21,392.10.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.26% to 7,217.27, and the Euronext 100 was down 0.64% to 1,073.50.
On the macro front
The Redbook Index for retail sales and the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey are due out today.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
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Data Dispatch: US REIT share repurchase activity tapers off in Q2: U.S. equity REITs bought back approximately $727.1 million of common shares during the recent quarter, a 22.7% drop compared to the $940 million repurchased in the three months prior and 41.4% lower than the amount repurchased in the year-ago period.
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