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CK Asset consortium to buy APA for A$13B; M&G beats Blacktone for Seoul tower

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CK Asset consortium to buy APA for A$13B; M&G beats Blacktone for Seoul tower

* A consortium comprising CK Asset Holdings Ltd., CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and Power Assets Holdings Ltd. submitted an indicative, nonbinding proposal to buy all the issued shares in Australian natural gas company APA Group for a cash consideration of A$11.00 per stapled security.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the deal has a total value of A$13 billion.

* M&G Real Estate signed a 1.1 trillion-won agreement with CTCore for the purchase of the Centropolis office property in Seoul, IPE Real Assets reported, citing unnamed sources. To secure the deal for the 26-story complex, the London-based property investor reportedly outbid Blackstone Group LP, Korea Post and a consortium involving private equity firm KKR & Co. LP, the report noted.

* Separately, Blackstone is involved in another race for a property in Seoul. The private equity giant is believed to be in contention with Mapletree Investments Pte. Ltd., NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. and IGIS Asset Management Co. Ltd., among other bidders, for the acquisition of Samsung C&T Corp.'s 32-story office building in the Korean capital. The asset is expected to fetch a record price of 32 million won per 3.3 square meters.

Australia

* IPO hopeful Cushman & Wakefield Inc. is looking to expand Down Under as it prepares for a planned New York listing by attempting to partner with Sydney-based brokerage Inc RE, the AFR's Street Talk reported. The global commercial real estate agency is trying to woo the startup that is reportedly also being pursued by the London-based Savills PLC.

* Hong Kong-based PAG Investment Management tapped Savills to oversee the off-market divestment of its 50% stake in the office tower at 60 Margaret St., Sydney, The Australian reported. A deal for the interest is expected to value the A-grade, 40,985-square-meter property at over A$800 million.

* InterContinental Hotels Group PLC signed a management agreement with fund manager SB&G Hotel Group Pty. Ltd. for the Australian debut of its upscale brand voco, the AFR reported. As part of the agreement, the 388-room Watermark Hotel & Spa Gold Coast in Surfers Paradise will be signed onto the new brand after the transaction.

Hong Kong and China

* Hon Kwok Land Investment Co. Ltd. is expecting its net profit attributable to owners of the company to be more than 4x higher in the year ended March 31 compared to the prior-year period. The company attributed the positive profit alert largely to its gain from the sale of a vacant site in Guangzhou.

* The strong demand for office space is lifting overall rental rates in Hong Kong's Kowloon East district despite an abundance of supply, Adrian Tang, head of Kowloon Markets at JLL, wrote in the South China Morning Post. Rents in new office buildings in the area dubbed as Hong Kong's second core business district, including Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.'s Two Harbour Square, have grown 30% since they were launched.

* The government-supported home rental market of China is drawing the attention of global investors and private equity funds as it continues to grow in the country, the SCMP reported. Among those investors is Singaporean wealth fund GIC Pvt. Ltd., which teamed up with the Warburg Pincus & Co.-backed Nova Property Investment Co. Ltd. in May to launch a long-term home projects platform with an initial capital of US$676 million.

Southeast Asia

* Keppel DC REIT completed its acquisition of a 99.0% stake in the purpose-built Kingsland Data Centre at 13 Sunview Way in Jurong, Singapore. The trust used an estimated S$298.9 million of the roughly S$303.1 million proceeds from a private placement of new units to partially fund the settled transaction.

* Thai real estate developer Property Perfect PCL established a 51/49 joint venture with Japan-based Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. The created entity with a registered capital of up to 200 million baht will target investments in real estate projects that are being developed for future sale.

India

* Singapore's CapitaLand Ltd. wrapped up its sale of The Forum Fiza Mall in Mangalore and the Forum Centre City in Mysore to Bangalore-based realty developer Prestige Group. The transaction is part of a nearly 3.43 billion-rupee deal between the pair of companies for the respective sale and acquisition of six retail mall properties across India.

Other real estate news

* Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. is providing Wanda Hotel Development Co. Ltd.'s Wanda One (UK) Ltd. subsidiary with a £90.0 million loan to accelerate the completion of their sale-and-purchase agreement for the One Nine Elms integrated development in London, which was estimated to be worth £700 million.

Wanda One will use the borrowed amount to settle its loan facility from Ping An Bank Co. Ltd. that will clear an obstacle to the One Nine Elms transaction.

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. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.

Rollen Catorce contributed to this report.

As of June 12, US$1 was equivalent to 67.48 Indian rupees, S$1.33, 1,077.58 won and 32.08 baht.