Gaw Said in Talks to Buy HNA’s SF Office Tower and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

As much of the region heads into an Easter holiday, Asia’s dealmakers refuse to take a break as Goodwin Gaw has reportedly been spotted shopping at the San Francisco location of HNA’s global real estate bargain bin. Singapore’s Mapletree is also in the news with its purchase of a $571 million set of Japanese offices and mainland China’s court system displays its efficiency by completing Wu Xiaohui’s $10 billion fraud trial in a single day. Read on for all the details on these stories and more.

Gaw Said in Talks to Buy HNA’s San Francisco Office Tower

HNA Group Co. is in discussions to sell a San Francisco office building to private-equity firm Gaw Capital Partners, according to a person with knowledge of the talks, as the Chinese conglomerate tries to shed billions of dollars in assets.

Discussions are preliminary and there is no guarantee of any agreement, the person said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential. HNA and Gaw Capital didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Read more>>

Mapletree Trust Buying 6 Tokyo Properties for $571M

Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust (MGCCT) Management on Wednesday morning announced that the group has entered into various conditional agreements to acquire a 98.5 per cent stake in a portfolio of six freehold commercial properties located in Greater Tokyo for 60.9 billion yen (S$753.4 million).

Subject to and upon completion of the proposed acquisition, MGCCT will be renamed “Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust”. Read more>>

Sun Hongbin’s Sunac Writes Off $2.6B Loss on Leshi

Sunac China described as “a failure” its investment in debt-laden Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing and said it would book a charge of $2.6 billion, sending shares of the tech firm down as much as 8 percent.

Leshi is unable to raise more funds, said Sunac Chairman Sun Hongbin – widely viewed as a white knight after he announced a 15 billion yuan ($2.38 billion) investment for the crumbling LeEco group, of which Leshi has been the main listed vehicle. Read more>>

Anbang’s Wu Denied Leniency as $10B Fraud Trial Over in One Day

Chinese prosecutors said Wu Xiaohui, the former chairman of Anbang Insurance Group Co., doesn’t deserve leniency as the one-day hearing of a fundraising fraud and embezzlement case against him wrapped up.

Wu didn’t make confessions that could justify reduced penalties, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court said on Weibo Wednesday evening, citing prosecutors who said his actions had threatened national financial security. Before falling afoul of the authorities, Wu led a multiyear deal spree that spanned the globe, including the purchase of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. Read more>>

Sumitomo Enters India with $2B Township JV With Krishna Group

Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation has tied up with Indian auto components major Krishna Group to develop real-estate projects across India.

The joint venture’ Krisumi Corporation — first project will be an 18 million sq ft development in Gurugram with cost in excess of $2 billion. Both the partners will hold 50:50 stake in the venture, which marks Sumitomo’s entry into the Indian real estate space. Read more>>

Oceanwide’s Genworth Acquisition Extended a Fourth Time

Genworth Financial, a US-based insurance holding company, and China Oceanwide Holdings Group have agreed to a fourth waiver and agreement of each party’s right to terminate the previously announced merger.

The companies first unveiled the deal in Oct. 2016 that would see the Chinese company buy Genworth for $2.7 billion. The new agreement extends the previous deadline of April 1 to July 1, 2018, and allows additional time for regulatory reviews of the transaction. Read more>>

Korean Capital Quick to Replace Chinese Investors

While China may yet be some time away from giving its big investors freer rein to put money overseas, neighbor South Korea is embracing the concept of diversifying abroad to boost risk-weighted returns.

As workers in Asia’s no. 4 economy ramp up savings before a rapid rise in the aging society’s retirement rolls, some of South Korea’s biggest investors see danger in keeping all the money at home. That’s all the more so since below-target inflation helped pull down long-term Korean bond yields. The country’s pension funds and insurers say they’re looking for opportunities abroad. Read more>>

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