Cindat Scores $385M Loan for NYC Hotels and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

At the top of today’s news, the private equity affiliate of one of China’s big four “bad banks” and its US partner have raised a major loan for a portfolio of Manhattan hotels and troubled conglomerate HNA faces another setback. Also in the headlines, Elon Musk doesn’t seem eager to hand over IP to the Shanghai government and Singapore’s housing market is on fire. Read on for all these twists and turns in Asia’s property world.

Cindat, Hersha Score $385M Loan for 7 Manhattan Hotels

Hersha Hospitality Trust and Cindat Capital Management secured a $385 million loan from UBS and China Merchants Bank for its portfolio of seven hotels in Manhattan, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The properties covered in the transaction include the Holiday Inn Express Times Square at 343 West 39th Street, Candlewood Suites Times Square at 339 West 39th Street, Hampton Inn Times Square at 337 West 39th Street, the Hampton Inn Chelsea at 108 West 24th Street, Hampton Inn Herald Square at 59 West 35th Street, Holiday Inn Wall Street at 51 Nassau Street and the Holiday Inn Express at 126 Water Street. Together, they have 1,087 hotel rooms. Read more>>

Tesla Balks at Trading Equity, IP for China Market Access

More than seven months after Elon Musk’s Tesla said it was working with Shanghai’s government to explore assembling cars, an agreement has not been finalised because the two sides disagree on the ownership structure for a proposed factory, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.

China’s central government says the plant must be a joint venture with local partners, while Tesla, the biggest-selling electric carmaker in the US, said it wants to own the factory completely, according to the sources. Read more>>

S&P Downgrades HNA’s Credit to “Speculative”

S&P Global Ratings downgraded the credit profile of HNA Group and two of its units, citing the conglomerate’s “deteriorating liquidity profile” amid a slew of debt maturities this year. The rating agency late on Tuesday cut HNA’s credit profile by one notch to ‘ccc+’, a “speculative grade”.

The debt-laden Chinese group also said some of its board directors and senior managers have bought offshore dollar bonds guaranteed by the conglomerate — the latest in a series of measures it is taking to shore up its finances. Read more>>

Singapore Home Sales Leap 37% YoY in January

Singapore developers sold 522 private homes in January, up 37 percent from the 382 units sold a year ago and 21 percent more than the 431 units moved in December.

The figures, released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday based on its surveys of licensed housing developers, exclude executive condos or ECs, which are a public-private housing hybrid. Inclusive of ECs, developers moved 622 homes last month, about 10 per cent more than the 566 units sold in January 2017 and 17 per cent higher than the 531 homes sold in December. Read more>>

CapitaLand CEO Says Singapore Home Prices Could Climb 10%

Singapore housing prices may rise as much as 10 percent this year, following a pickup in home sales, the chief executive officer of South-east Asia’s biggest developer said.

“Transaction volume has gone up and usually that’s a precursor to some price increase,” Lim Ming Yan, the president and CEO of CapitaLand Ltd., said in an interview in Singapore. “A 5-to-10 percent increase is possible this year barring any unforeseen major volatility in the capital markets.” Read more>>

Alibaba’s Ant Financial Bets $32M on “Smart Parking” Operator

A unit under Alibaba’s payment arm Ant Financial Services Group has penned a deal to plow RMB 200 million ($32 million) into smart parking operator Shenzhen Shunyitong Information Technology Co.

Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital Co, an indirect division of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., penned a deal with Shunyitong’s parent company Shenzhen Jieshun Science and Technology Industry Co, the latter said in a statement. The buyer will take a 20-percent stake in the previously wholly owned unit. Read more>>

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