KKR is joining with Rakuten to buy Walmart’s Seiyu stores in Japan
Today’s roundup of regional news headlines features Walmart unloading its majority stake in a Japanese supermarket chain, embattled Goldin Financial scrapping a previously announced share placement, and resort operator Genting Singapore swinging to a net profit in the third quarter after a key property reopened to visitors.
KKR Leads $1B Buyout of Walmart’s Japan Supermarket Business
Walmart is selling a majority stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu to investment firm KKR and e-commerce company Rakuten for over $1 billion, after suffering years of poor profitability amid stiff competition.
The deal, which values Seiyu at JPY 172.5 billion ($1.65 billion) including debt, comes after on-off speculation about the world’s biggest retailer looking to exit Japan. It is below the JPY 300-500 billion Walmart reportedly sought a few years ago. Read more>>
Embattled Goldin Scraps $180M Share Placement
Goldin Financial (0530) has terminated a placing agreement that would have raised around HK$1.38 billion ($180 million) due to the current market conditions, the debt-laden local developer said.
Goldin said last month it would place about 1.4 billion new shares at HK$1 per share to at least six independent investors. The new shares are equal to 20 percent of the total existing shares, or 16.67 percent of the issued share capital after placement. Read more>>
China Real Estate Investment Continues Growth Swing
Real estate investment in China grew at a faster pace in the first 10 months of the year, thanks to robust construction activity and cheap credit that flooded into the property market.
Property investment, including that in commercial and residential real estate, rose 6.3 percent in the first 10 months of the year, extending the 5.6 percent increase in the January-to-September period. Read more>>
China Home Price Growth Slows in October
Chinese new home prices grew at a slower monthly pace in October, data showed on Monday, with some big cities having rolled out measures like bans on sales or purchases to try to cool the market.
Average new home prices in 70 major cities rose 0.2 percent in October from a month earlier, down from September’s 0.4 percent growth, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Read more>>
Genting Singapore Back in the Black in Q3
Genting Singapore swung to a net profit of S$54.4 million ($40.4 million) for the three months to 30 September from a net loss of S$163.3 million in the previous quarter after Resorts World Sentosa reopened to visitors in early July as the nation entered phase two of its gradual reopening.
On a year-on-year basis, though, the continued absence of inbound tourists due to COVID-19 travel restrictions was keenly felt, as earnings were down 66 percent from S$158.9 million in the third quarter of 2019, while revenue halved to S$300.1 million, the company’s third-quarter business update on Saturday showed. Read more>>
Frasers Centrepoint Trust Still Keen on Acquisitions
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) may have just announced a sizeable deal, but the manager of the real estate investment trust has no qualms about snapping up more properties if the right opportunities come along.
“When the opportunity [to acquire suburban retail space] is available to us, we will evaluate it,” said Richard Ng, chief executive at Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management. “If it is yield accretive and something that adds to the benefit of our unitholders, we will definitely look at it.” Read more>>
SG Oct New Home Sales Halve on Fewer Launches, Options Curbs
Developers in Singapore sold 642 new private homes in October, 51.7 percent lower than the 1,329 units sold in September.
The decline came amid the authorities’ clampdown on 28 September on the reissuing of options to purchase (OTPs) by developers, as well as a dearth of new project launches last month. Read more>>
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