Blackstone chief Stephen Schwarzman
The world’s digital future leads Mingtiandi’s headline review today, with Blackstone announcing a $7 billion data centre JV with Digital Realty. Also in the news, Shimao fails to sway investors with its announcement of a debt restructuring plan and China’s Wanda is said to be in talks to sell some of its already highly leveraged mall assets to mainland insurers.
Blackstone-Digital Realty Strike $7B Data Centre Development Deal
Blackstone is expanding its bet on data centres through a new venture with Digital Realty Trust. The two companies will seek to develop four data-centre campuses located in Frankfurt, Paris and Northern Virginia, with an estimated cost of $7 billion spread over the next several years, according to a statement Thursday.
Blackstone will have an 80 percent stake and contribute $700 million in capital initially, while Digital Realty will own 20 percent and manage development and day-to-day operations. Read more>>
Wanda Said in Talks to Sell Malls to Mainland Insurer
Dalian Wanda Group, a debt-laden Chinese real estate giant, is reportedly in discussions with an insurance company with a view to raising cash by unloading its Wanda Plaza shopping malls in first and second-tier cities.
Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group, a commercial property management unit of the Beijing-based developer, told investors about the existence of the talks, The Paper reported today, though it did not name the insurer. Read more>>
Investors Yawn as Shimao Announces Debt Restructuring Plan
Shares in Chinese developer Shimao Group were flat on Friday after it issued a restructuring plan to reduce up to $7 billion in offshore debt, becoming the latest developer in China to try to revamp its debt.
The developer, with around $11.7 billion in offshore notes, bonds and other credit facilities has been pushing forward plans to revamp its debts over the past few months, Shimao said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Thursday. Read more>>
India’s Brigade Group to Build $59M Bangalore Office Complex
The Bangalore-based real estate developer, Brigade Group, on Wednesday announced it will be developing an office complex in Bangalore worth an estimated construction cost of INR 5 billion ($59 million). The real estate firm has formed a Joint Development Agreement for the same.
The proposed project envisages the development of a Premium ‘Grade A’ office complex on Sankey Road in the Central Business District of Bangalore covering approximately 200,000 square-foot. Read more>>
Sasseur REIT Extends $43M Sponsor Loan Maturity by a Year
A Sasseur REIT wholly-owned subsidiary has extended an unsecured interest-bearing loan of RMB 308 million ($43 million) from its sponsor by a year, the REIT’s manager announced on Thursday.
In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, Sasseur Asset Management said that the loan from a wholly-owned subsidiary of sponsor Sasseur Cayman Holding has been extended by another year from March 2024 to March 2025. Read more>>
Wall Street Puts a ‘Sell’ on Its China Holdings
One of Washington’s biggest China critics travelled to New York in mid-September to meet with some of Wall Street’s best-known financiers. His mission was to persuade them to stop investing in China.
Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher, who chairs a House committee on China, was surprised to find they didn’t need much coaxing. They told him they already were ratcheting back their investments there. Read more>>
China’s CIC Suffered 2022 Losses on Market Turmoil, Eroding Assets and Returns
China Investment Corp (CIC), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund established to help diversify its foreign-exchange reserves, suffered investment losses in 2022 as the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions roiled global markets and eroded its assets and long-term returns.
CIC’s total assets fell to $1.24 trillion by the end of last year from $1.35 trillion for the previous year, mainly due to a $51.4 billion impairment in the fair value of its holdings, according to its annual report. It was the first drop since the fallout from the US-China trade war in 2018. Read more>>
China’s Push to Loosen Mao-Era Residence Rules Runs Into Hurdles
Yang Guang’s rise from a village farmer to an Audi-driving businessman with two properties hinged largely on one of the most coveted documents in China: an urban hukou, or residency permit.
The 45-year-old who lives in the central city of Zhengzhou likens the permit – which typically ties a person’s access to health, education, loans and other services to their birthplace – to a “cattle ear-tag the state clipped us with”. Read more>>
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