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SP Setia-Telstra feud risks A$478M project; Blackstone Asia fund secures US$300M

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SP Setia-Telstra feud risks A$478M project; Blackstone Asia fund secures US$300M

* SP Setia Bhd. filed a brief writ in the Supreme Court of Victoria, alleging that Telstra Corp. Ltd. failed to carry out its obligations in relation to the A$101 million sale in 2016 of the telephone company's 4,164-square-meter site in Melbourne to the Malaysian developer.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the legal dispute is threatening the Kuala Lumpur-based developer's revised plan for the site at Exhibition Street, where it intends to build a A$478 million twin tower that will comprise 318 apartments and 500 hotel rooms.

* Blackstone Group LP's US$5 billion Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia II fund secured a US$300 million commitment from the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

The pension fund joins other backers of the real estate-focused fund, including the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, South Dakota Investment Council, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois and the Texas Permanent School Fund.

Hong Kong and China

* Midea Group Co. Ltd. Founder He Xiangjian is reportedly planning an IPO in Hong Kong for the real estate arm of his conglomerate. The fundraising and valuation targets for Guangdong Midea Property Co. are yet to be determined, but "people with knowledge of the matter" claimed that the IPO could happen in 2018.

* Shareholders of Wanda Hotel Development Co. Ltd. approved the company's plan to buy Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. Ltd. out of Wanda Hotel Management (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd. for HK$878.0 million. The deal between the subsidiary-parent pair, green-lit after a 97.93% vote Dec. 8, is part of the asset restructuring strategy planned for Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd.'s hospitality business.

* China Vanke Co. Ltd. Chairman and CEO Yu Liang said in a media conference that "the era of Vanke being a real estate developer is already over," The Paper reported. Yu said the company has been spending the past five years on the transformation from a developer to an urban services provider, which will be the company's major business.

* Joy City Property Ltd. is expecting an estimated 1.98 billion yuan from the sale of its two subsidiaries' respective interests in the company that owns and operates the 349-room W Hotel Beijing Chang'an in Beijing to Tianfu Fund Management Co. Ltd.

* A subsidiary of Yunnan Metropolitan Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. won in land auctions after placing a combined 1.37 billion yuan bid, Reuters reported.

* An indirect wholly owned subsidiary of China Merchants Land Ltd., under a roughly 806.3 million yuan deal, is getting a 14.28% share of the registered capital of Nanjing Huihe Zhiye Co. Ltd., the owner and developer of a 130,656.0-square-meter site in Nanjing, China.

* In the first 11 months of 2017, the contracted sales of China Resources Land Ltd. and Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. jumped 26% and roughly 61% year over year to 124.7 billion yuan and nearly 26.87 billion yuan, respectively.

* Logan Property Holdings Co. Ltd. canceled its 9.75% senior notes due 2017 following a US$262.2 million redemption Dec. 8.

* The Sleeping Beauty Castle in Hong Kong Disneyland will undergo a refurbishment as part of Disney's HK$10.9 billion multi-year expansion project, The (Hong Kong) Standard reported. The renovation will see the incorporation of 13 other Disney princesses in the design of the 23.5-meter castle.

* Hong Kong's Lands Department will launch Dec. 15 the public bidding for the sale of the 11,262-square-meter New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6579 residential site in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Southeast Asia

* Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., in a partnership with Filipino company Leisure & Resorts World Corp., is planning to develop a gaming resort on the island of Boracay in the Philippines, which will include a casino valued at between 300 million pesos and 500 million pesos.

* Megaworld Corp. earmarked 8 billion pesos for the 10-year development of the 100-hectare The Hamptons Caliraya estate in the province of Laguna, The Philippine Star reported.

* Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority awarded the tender for the Jiak Kim Street and Fourth Avenue residential sites to Frasers Centrepoint Ltd. subsidiary FCL Residences Pte. Ltd. and Allgreen Properties Ltd. after they placed the respective winning bids of S$955.4 million and about S$553.0 million.

* Indonesian developer PT Lippo Karawaci is hoping to raise 600 billion rupiahs from the 635-rupiah-per-share sale of its new shares in the first quarter of 2018, The Jakarta Post reported. Proceeds from the proposed limited public offering will be used to boost the company's capital reserves and to fuel its expansion plans.

Australia

* Two other groups remain in competition with the Australian arm of Singapore's ARA Asset Management for a 50% stake in Impact Investment Group. The interest in the investment platform, owned by Impact CEO Chris Lock, is expected to fetch below A$50 million, the AFR reported.

* Brisbane-based developer Property Solutions is planning a A$550 million mixed-use development on the Gold Coast, The Australian reported. The project will be called Queen Street Village, and the first stage will include the 19-level Palladium building, which will comprise 17 levels of residential space and a ground floor retail plaza.

Japan

* Lotte Arai Resort, owned and operated by South Korea's Hotel Lotte Co. Ltd., will open Dec. 16 in Myoko, Niigata Prefecture. Hotel Lotte bought the property in 2015 and remodeled it into a 257-room hot-spring mountain resort, The Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Other real estate news

* City Developments Ltd. increased its offer for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc to £6.00 per share from £5.45 per share. Also included in the package, which was recommended for acceptance by the target's independent directors, is a special dividend of 20 pence.

The updated and final offer values Millennium & Copthorne at roughly £2.01 billion.

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.

Rollen Catorce, Emily Lai and Jaekwon Lim contributed to this report.

As of Dec. 8, US$1 was equivalent to 6.62 yuan, 13,549.00 Indonesian rupiahs, 50.52 Philippine pesos and S$1.35.