Amazon Starts Legal Action Over India Partner’s Reliance Deal and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

India’s biggest retail deal of the year may also generate one of the country’s largest legal cases as Amazon says it is taking action against it local partner after Future Group entered into a $3.4 billion agreement with Reliance Industries.

Also in the news, one of Australia’s richest men appears to also be among the country’s most forgetful and a Korean investor thinks 2020 might be a good year to exit China’s logistics industry.

Amazon Starts Legal Action Over India Partner’s Reliance Retail Deal

Amazon.com Inc. said its Indian partner Future Group violated a contract by entering into a $3.4 billion sale agreement with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., a spat that could derail the country’s biggest retail deal.

“We have initiated steps to enforce our contractual rights,” a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant said in an email. “As the matter is sub-judice, we can’t provide details.” A representative for Future Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more>>

Crown’s James Packer Says He Forgot Relationship with Stanley Ho

Australian billionaire James Packer said on Wednesday he “forgot” his casino firm Crown Resorts was banned from dealing with associates of Hong Kong’s Stanley Ho when he orchestrated a part-buyout by a firm controlled by Mr Ho’s son.

Mr Packer’s actions as Crown’s largest shareholder are being scrutinised as the New South Wales state government holds an inquiry to decide if the company should be allowed to go ahead with its A$2.2 billion (S$2.1 billion) casino tower in Sydney just months before its scheduled opening. Read more>>

CJ Logistics, NPS Eye Sell-Off of Chinese Logistics Unit

South Korea’s leading logistics firm CJ Logistics Corp. and the National Pension Service have reached out to logistics companies and global private equity firms to sell CJ Rokin, a Chinese logistics firm, according to investment banking industry sources on Oct. 8.

In 2015, CJ Logistics and NPS jointly purchased a 71.4% stake in CJ Rokin for 455 billion won ($394 million), with the CJ Group unit putting up 312 billion won. Read more>>

Laws Group Plans 27-Storey West Kowloon Tower

Lawsgroup is pushing ahead with redeveloping a set of industrial buildings into offices and shopping centres even as Hong Kong’s economy and retail sector still reel from the coronavirus outbreak.

The building in Lai Chi Kok, West Kowloon, right next to its D2 Place One and Two shopping malls, will be redeveloped into an office tower with a major retail component, said Bosco Law Ching-kit, deputy chairman and chief executive of the closely held Lawsgroup, adding that he hopes to link the three buildings with a footbridge, turning it into one big complex. Read more>>

Landlords Offer Subsidies as HK Office Vacancy Hits 21-Year High

Hong Kong’s commercial landlords are offering incentives such as renovation subsidies to lure tenants, as the amount of office space lying empty reaches the highest level in 21 years, according to property services company CBRE.

Some landlords have begun offering a one-off subsidy to help new tenants fit out their office space, said Alan Lok, executive director of advisory and transaction services for offices at CBRE. Read more>>

Yanlord Posts Contracted Sales of S$1.09B in Sept 2020

Yanlord Land Group posted a total of RMB 5.42 billion (S$1.09 billion) in contracted pre-sales from residential and commercial units and car parks amounting to some 159,171 sqm on contracted gross floor area (GFA) for the month of September.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, the group’s pre-sales rose 66.7% y-o-y to approximately RMB 53.19 billion. Read more>>

Singapore’s Rich Capital Drops PrimePartners as Continuing Sponsor

Property developer Rich Capital Holdings on Thursday said PrimePartners Corporate Finance will no longer be its continuing sponsor from Nov 1.

In a bourse filing, the Catalist-listed company said the decision was made “after deliberations and for commercial reasons”. It had on Oct 1 issued a written notice to terminate the agreement with PrimePartners. Read more>>

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