CP to Buy Tesco’s SE Asia Business for $10.6B and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Britain’s biggest supermarket leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that a conglomerate controlled by Thailand’s richest family has agreed to acquire Tesco’s Thai and Malaysian business for $10.6 billion.

In other news around the region, a Singapore-listed REIT is re-opening one of its mainland China malls after the coronavirus outbreak forced its closure, while Google has laid plans for its next Southeast Asia data centre.

Elsewhere, condo sales begin at a revamped New York hotel five years after a disgraced Chinese insurer acquired it for $1.95 million.

CP Group to Buy Tesco’s Thai, Malaysian Business for $10.6B

Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group said on Tuesday its board approved a deal for its subsidiaries to buy up 86.9 percent of the Thai business of British retailer Tesco and 100 percent of the retailer’s Malaysian business in a deal valued at $10.6 billion.

The Thai group said the transaction is subject to anti-trust approvals from Thai regulators. Read more>>

Sasseur REIT to Reopen Kunming Mall after Virus-Related Closure

Sasseur Real Estate Investment Trust will be reopening its Kunming outlet mall on 11 March following approval from relevant local authorities, its manager said.

The manager added that it is working closely with the REIT’s sponsor Sasseur Cayman Holding to reopen its three remaining outlet malls in Chongqing, Bishan and Hefei. Read more>>

Will COVID-19 Accelerate HNA Sell-off?

For four months starting in November 2016, a little-known Chinese company made waves in Hong Kong’s tight-knit real estate market, upending the intricate competition for influence between a handful of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent landowning families.

HNA Group, best known then as the owner of China’s fourth-largest carrier and an also-ran Hong Kong airline, was overpaying for land. Over four months, the Haikou, Hainan-based company paid HK$27.2 billion ($3.5 billion) for four plots at the old Kai Tak airport, breaking records along the way, to build waterfront luxury flats. Read more>>

Fitch Gives Starhill Global REIT “BBB” Long-term Default Rating

Fitch Ratings has assigned Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust a “BBB” long-term issuer default rating with a stable outlook.

The credit ratings agency has also assigned a “BBB” long-term rating to SG REIT’s S$2 billion ($1.4 billion) multi-currency medium-term notes programme and the S$295 million outstanding notes issued off the programme. Read more>>

Google to Open Next Southeast Asia Data Centre in Indonesia

Google is looking to open its first data centre in Indonesia. A Google spokesperson confirmed that the tech company has ongoing plans to open a new data centre in Jakarta over the next year.

The tech company first announced more progress for its Google Cloud in Asia Pacific in 2018, and said Hong Kong and Indonesia were among the markets. Read more>>

Apple iPhone Sales Down 60% in China

Apple sold less than 500,000 iPhones in China across February as the region enforced restrictions on travel and public gatherings to counter the threat of coronavirus spread.

Specifically, government figures showed Apple sold 494,000 phones in February, down 60 percent compared to the 1.27 million iPhones sold in the same month a year ago. Read more>>

Condo Sales Begin at Revamped Waldorf Astoria

When China’s Anbang Insurance Group paid $1.95 billion for the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York back in 2015, it was one of the priciest hotel deals ever.

A partial condo conversion of the top floors followed, and a refurbished hotel was planned for the lower floors. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.

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