ARA Buys Out Manager of China’s Dasin Retail Trust and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In our latest roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s ARA Asset Management buys out the manager of China’s Dasin Retail Trust, JD.com reportedly gets the go-ahead for its logistics unit’s IPO, and private equity titan Blackstone looks to offload some of its European warehouses.

ARA Buys Out Manager of China’s Dasin Retail Trust

ARA Asset Management has agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in Dasin Retail Trust’s trustee-manager and 5 percent of the trust’s units in a deal that would extend its reach into China’s Greater Bay Area.

Dasin, with assets under management of RMB 11.6 billion ($1.8 billion), has a portfolio of seven retail malls in high-population catchment areas with limited competition in Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Foshan. Read more>>

JD Logistics’ $4B IPO Gets Green Light

JD.com’s logistics unit got the green light for its Hong Kong IPO yesterday, Reuters’ IFR reported.

JD Logistics is seeking to raise up to $4 billion, according to earlier reports. It could be the second subsidiary of JD.com listed in Hong Kong, following JD Health International, which raised more than HK$30 billion from its IPO last December. JD.com also completed a HK$34.5 billion secondary listing last June. Read more>>

Blackstone Puts €100M of European Warehouses Up for Sale

Blackstone Group is seeking to sell about €100 million ($121 million) in properties from its European urban warehouse business.

The investment firm has hired Savills to find a buyer for the mostly small Nordic properties, people with knowledge of the process said. Read more>>

Henderson Land Makes Henley Project Kai Tak’s Priciest

Developers are taking advantage of a revival in homebuying sentiment in Hong Kong, pricing new projects higher relative to recent launches.

Henderson Land Development revealed the prices of The Henley, its first project in Kai Tak, on Thursday, pricing it 11 percent higher than another project on the site of the city’s former airport in February. Read more>>

Mapletree Industrial Trust’s Distributable Net Property Income Up 11.3%

Mapletree Industrial Trust reported a distributable net property income of S$295.26 million (now $222.4 million) for fiscal 2020-21.

This is 11.3 percent higher than the distributable net property income of S$265.33 million recorded for the same period a year earlier. Read more>>

Frasers Hospitality Trust’s H1 2021 Distribution Down 45.5%

Frasers Hospitality Trust’s distribution per stapled security fell by 45.5 percent to 0.179 Singapore cents for the first half of fiscal 2021 ended 31 March from 0.3287 Singapore cents a year ago.

Gross revenue was down 36.2 percent to S$39.9 million (now $30 million) from S$62.6 million in the first half of fiscal 2020. Read more>>

Ascott Residence Trust Q1 RevPAU Up 10% on Quarter to S$55

Ascott Residence Trust posted a 10 percent quarterly increase to S$55 (now $41.43) in revenue per available unit (RevPAU) in the first quarter of its properties under management contracts and management contracts with minimum guaranteed income, excluding rental housing and student accommodation properties.

In an update for the quarter, the managers noted an increase in average portfolio occupancy from mid-40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 to about 50 percent in the first quarter of 2021, which was supported by block bookings. Read more>>

Manulife CEO Embraces Flexible Schedules, Unhurried Return to Office

Manulife Financial Corporation chief executive Roy Gori is not in a hurry to bring the insurer’s employees back to the office. When he does, they will still have plenty of flexibility to work from home.

The company has not set a date to bring workers back, and it will continue to allow them to perform some portion of their jobs from home, he said. Read more>>

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