Fosun to Take $1.5B Hit on Thomas Cook Collapse and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

A former British travel agency leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that a mainland China conglomerate is set to take a $1.5 billion hit after the tour operator’s collapse.

In other news around the region, the IPO debacle of the world’s biggest loss-making co-working operator may have a negative impact on shared office companies in India, while a city in mainland China has launched the tender process for a hotel and exhibition development near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, with bids to start at $793 million.

Elsewhere, luxury property sales to foreigners in a Southeast Asian tax haven have hit a 12-year high.

Fosun to Take $1.5B Hit on Thomas Cook Collapse

When Thomas Cook, the storied British travel agency that filed for bankruptcy on Monday, needed financial help in recent years, it turned to the Chinese investment firm Fosun International.

Since 2015, the Shanghai-based conglomerate and its chairman, Guo Guangchang, have built up an 18 percent stake worth as much as $1.5 billion, according to regulatory filings before the company became officially insolvent. Read more>>

Australian Tax Office Says Huang Xiangmo’s Assets Structured to Hinder Creditors

The Australian Taxation Office has accused the controversial Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo of intentionally setting up complicated business structures in Australia to frustrate efforts to recover money from him.

In documents filed with the federal court, the ATO, which has hit Huang with a A$140 million ($95 million) tax bill, said it had concerns that Huang “intentionally structured his asset holdings in such a fashion so as to delay or hinder recovery by creditors”. Read more>>

WeWork IPO Debacle to Hurt India Co-Working Businesses

The delayed listing plans and lacklustre demand for American co-working unicorn WeWork’s initial public offering is expected to have a negative impact on the valuations of Indian co-working companies and their fundraising plans, investors and industry insiders said.

The We Co, as it is formally known, said last week that it was postponing its IPO to the year-end due to lack of demand from investors. Read more>>

Singapore Bishan Park Condos Put on the Market for S$680M

Bishan Park Condominium is being put up for collective sale with an asking price of at least S$680 million ($494 million), its marketing agent ERA Realty said.

The 28-year-old condominium is just an eight-minute drive from Braddell View — a mega site also up for en-bloc sale with a S$2.08 billion price tag. Read more>>

Bids to Start at $793M for Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Tender

The southern Chinese city of Zhuhai has announced a tender process for what will be one of the largest hotel and exhibition centres near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, as it bets on an increase in business travel in the Greater Bay Area.

The city’s government announced on Thursday that a tender for a 226,000 square metre (2.4 million square feet) plot of land to the north of Zhuhai port will open on 9 October, and it will be auctioned off on October 18. Its price starts at RMB 5.64 billion ($793 million), or RMB 5,828 per square metre. Read more>>

Singapore Luxury Home Sales to Foreigners Hit 12-Year High

Singapore sold more luxury homes to foreigners in three months ended June than any other quarter during the past 12 years, as Chinese and Hong Kong investors sought a safe haven to park their money amid the escalating US-China trade war and deteriorating public order in Hong Kong.

Up to 140 super luxury homes, those priced at more than S$8 million ($5.8 million), or S$3,000 per square foot, were sold to foreigners in the second quarter, even with a 20 percent additional buyer’s stamp duty imposed on foreign buyers. Read more>>

Bangkok Land Prices May Drop as Condo Market Slows

Bangkok land prices are expected to stay flat or drop this year for the first time in over a decade, largely because of the economic slowdown and the Land and Buildings Tax set to take effect early next year, say property analysts.

Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of property consultant CBRE Thailand, said there is an increasing number of landowners with a large amount of land stock offering their plots for sale. Read more>>

Hong Kong Hotel Owners Appeal for Help as Daily Rates Reach New Low

Hong Kong hotel operators have called on the government to waive rents and even allow properties to offer empty rooms on long-term leases, or for sale, as a way of survival amid a steep decline in occupancy and rates brought on by 16 weeks of protests in the city.

At a new low of HK$71 ($9.06) a night, some hotels are now cheaper than subdivided flats in the city. Winland 800 Hotel in protest-hit Tsing Yi, is offering that rate on weekdays through the Wing On Travel website. It represents a decline of 65.7 percent from its lowest rate of HK$207 a night in March 2018. Read more>>

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