A leadership shake-up at one of China’s most embattled developers leads this week’s look at executive moves from around Asia Pacific, as the chairman of HKEX-listed R&F Properties finds his travel curtailed by a mainland court order. Also making the list: a new chief financial officer at Swire Properties, a chairman change at a mainland data centre operator signals a buyout and a dramatic CEO departure at an ASX-listed data centre REIT.
R&F Properties chairman and executive director Li Sze-Lim has been placed under an exit ban by a Tianjin court, according to a report by the Economic Observer published on 11 March. Li was stopped at the border around the Lunar New Year period after the Tianjin No 3 Intermediate People’s Court restricted his travel in connection with civil enforcement proceedings related to a loan dispute. The HKEX-listed developer defaulted on $4.5 billion in offshore bonds in 2024 and is among China’s most indebted developers.
Swire Properties has named Roy Shearer as incoming chief financial officer and executive director, succeeding Fanny Lung Ngan Yee, who retires after more than three decades with Swire group, the company announced to the Hong Kong stock exchange on 12 March. Shearer, 49, joined Swire in 2015 and most recently ran finance at its Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering subsidiary. In the same announcement, Swire said that former McKinsey partner David Cogman is joining the board as an independent, non-executive director as Martin Murray steps down. All changes take effect at the company’s 12 May annual general meeting.
After being unable to contact its CEO and executive director Li Weiping since early last month, China’s Sun Art Retail Group has appointed its chairman, Julian Juul Wolhardt (pictured), as chief executive officer with immediate effect, according to a filing made to the Hong Kong stock exchange on 8 March. Wolhardt, 52, is co-founder and CEO of DCP Capital and was previously with KKR. Formerly with Alibaba’s grocery division, Li had joined Sun Art in December before being said to have been taken away by authorities in February to assist with an investigation.
Chinese data centre operator Vnet announced on 10 March that Jianbao Zhu has resigned from his role as a director of the company, with the change also removing Zhu from his co-chairman role with the Nasdaq-listed company. Zhu had joined Vnet’s board after mainland investment firm Shandong Hi-Speed, where he serves as vice chairman, CEO and executive director, paid $299 million in 2023 to acquire a stake in the data centre operator. Bloomberg reported in January that Vnet founder Josh Sheng had teamed up with Shenzhen-based Youzu Interactive to buy out Shandong Hi-Speed’s stake in the data centre operator.
ASX-listed DigiCo Infrastructure REIT has announced that chief executive Michael Juniper will take extended personal leave, with Chris Maher stepping in as interim CEO, according to an ASX filing released on 9 March. Juniper had recently assumed the role at the data centre REIT, which owns 13 facilities across Australia and North America. In the statement Juniper expressed disappointment at his early departure with the company indicating that Maher will be supported by CFO Simon Mitchell.
Sydney-based fund manager Dexus has recruited Sally Box as head of growth market funds, according to her LinkedIn profile. Box joins the ASX-listed group from Cabot Properties, where she spent nearly six years as managing director, opening the logistics investor’s Sydney and Tokyo offices and leading its Asia Pacific activity. Before Cabot she spent more than five years at Greenhill and Evercore in private capital advisory, heading Australia, New Zealand and Asian origination, and earlier led business development at QIC Global Infrastructure.
After two decades covering Japan’s commercial property markets, Mari Kumagai has left Cushman & Wakefield in Tokyo, where she led research and consulting, to head cross-border capital formation at TSE-listed developer Kasumigaseki Capital, according to her LinkedIn profile. Kumagai previously held research roles at LaSalle Investment Management and Colliers International in Japan. In the intervening months she completed a startup residency at Antler Japan, where her team secured seed funding from a Singapore-based impact investor.
Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Ayaka Hayashi to lead its research team for Japan, stepping into the role vacated by Kumagai, according to her LinkedIn profile. Hayashi joins from MSCI in Tokyo, where she had served as vice president of client coverage, growing the firm’s institutional relationships across Japan’s real estate sector. Her move marks a return to the property consultancy world after her time at the index and analytics provider.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
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