Evergrande Crisis to Be Dealt With by Market Says PBOC and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, China’s central bank chief says the Evergrande crisis will be handled according to market conventions, Singapore’s luxury home sales hit a fresh record high, and Equinix opens its third data centre in the Western Australian capital of Perth.

Evergrande Crisis to Be Dealt With by Market Says PBOC

China Evergrande Group’s inability to meet its obligations is a market event and will be dealt with in a market-oriented way, the head of the nation’s central bank said.

“The rights and interests of creditors and shareholders will be fully respected in accordance to their legal seniority,” People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang said Thursday in a pre-recorded video message to a top-level seminar about Hong Kong’s future as an international financial center. Read more>>

ARA Europe Completes Acquisition of InfraRed’s European Unit

ARA Europe, through its platform ARA Dunedin, has completed its acquisition of the European real estate investment management business of InfraRed Capital Partners.

The transferred business will operate as ARA Europe’s discretionary real estate equity fund management platform as ARA Europe Private Markets. Read more>>

Equinix Adds Data Centres as Perth Gets Connected

Data centre operator Equinix has opened its third facility in Perth, a A$72 million ($51.5 million) investment into the Western Australian capital’s emerging role as a digital gateway between Australia, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The opening of a third date centre in Perth — it is the operator’s 18th in Australia — comes just two weeks after Equinix’s second facility in the city was chosen as the connection point here for the Oman Australia Cable, which is due to be completed next year. Equinix also operates the connection at the other end of the 9,800 kilometre (6,089 mile) subsea cable system, through a facility at Muscat. Read more>>

Evergrande, Kaisa Both Downgraded to ‘Restricted Default’ by Fitch

Embattled Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group Holdings have been downgraded to “restricted default” by international rating agency Fitch Ratings.

The downgrade on Thursday comes after several attempts by China Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, to stave off such an event through last-minute bond payments a couple of times over the past two months. Read more>>

Freehold Orchard Condo Up for Collective Sale at $350M

The Beaumont at 145 and 147 Devonshire Road in Singapore will be launched for collective sale via public tender with a guide price of S$478 million ($350 million) on 10 December, sole marketing agent Savills said.

Spanning 74,739 square feet (6,943 square metres), the freehold boutique development consists of 64 units spread across a five-storey and a 10-storey tower. It is zoned residential with an allowable gross plot ratio of 2.8 and an achievable proposed gross floor area of 209,269 square feet. Read more>>

Singapore Luxury Home Sales Soar to New High

Sales in the luxury sector are on a roll as Singapore reopens progressively. In particular, deal volumes of high-end housing have climbed to a fresh record.

Activity in the posh residential market — specifically, residential units priced above S$10 million ($7.3 million) — has stayed buoyant this year and even outperformed sales of watches and jewellery, said the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies at the National University of Singapore. Read more>>

China Property Debt Crisis Puts Founders on Spot

China’s property magnates face a choice between giving up control or risking insolvency as the industry’s liquidity crisis deepens. It’s a marked contrast to previous crunches, when founder-chairs mostly came up with ways to cling to their controlling stakes.

Developer Agile highlighted the issue last month when it sold bonds that on maturity turn into shares in its property management unit, A-Living Smarty City Services. Now bondholders are trying to push Kaisa Group, one of the biggest offshore borrowers, to consider a similar deal as part of a broader package of funding suggestions. Read more>>

Oxley Unit Could Pay Up to $10.2M Over Troubled Australian Units

A wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed developer Oxley Holdings will cough up as much as A$14.3 million ($10.2 million) to cover costs related to subsidiaries under voluntary administration in Australia, the board said in an update on Wednesday.

The subsidiary, Oxley Sparkle, will also bear costs relating to the administration or liquidation of the Pindan entities and the implementation of the proposed deeds of company arrangement that were approved at the reconvened second creditors’ meetings held last Friday. Read more>>

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