China's Fosun Said Bidding for AC Milan

Fosun’s Guo Guangchang could end up owning two European football clubs

Guo Guangchang’s Fosun, one of China’s biggest property investors, is expanding its portfolio into sports teams, as the Shanghai-based firm is said to be seeking to acquire AC Milan, after buying the UK’s Wolverhampton football team last month. Also in the news, the battle for China’s biggest developer gets more interesting as Evergrande joins the battle for Vanke, and Singapore’s CapitaLand sees profits drop by more than a third. Read on for all these stories and more.

Fosun Said Bidding to Take Over AC Milan

Today’s exclusive news of La Gazzetta dello Sport has shaken Italian football and AC Milan fans once again. It has emerged that Jorge Mendes and Chinese entrepreneur Guo Guangchang are plotting an offer to acquire a majority share in AC Milan.

Fininvest is still negotiating with Sonny Wu’s consortium even if the exclusive negotiation agreement expired in mid July. Chiefs of Berlusconi’s holding company believe e deal with the Chinese consortium is close to be reached, though the club’s sale is not a done deal yet. Read more>>

Evergrande Buys $1.4B Stake in China Vanke

Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd., controlled by billionaire Chairman Hui Ka Yan, paid 9.1 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) for a 4.68 percent stake in China Vanke Co., the competitor embroiled in an ownership tussle with a key shareholder.

The Guangzhou-based developer bought Vanke’s Shenzhen-traded shares through a unit, it said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange after the market close on Thursday. Evergrande cited Vanke’s “strong” financial performance as China’s largest developer as a reason for its investment, according to the filing. Read more>>

CapitaLand Net Profit Down 36.6%

CapitaLand Limited posted a 36.6 per cent fall in net profit after tax and minority interests (PATMI) for the second quarter ended June 30 from a year ago to S$294 million, dragged by higher cost of sales and lower fair value gains of investment properties.

Operating PATMI also slipped 33 per cent to S$171.6 million. But excluding the one-off fair value gain of S$125.9 million arising from the change of use of development projects a year ago, CapitaLand’s operating PATMI would have grown 31.8 per cent. Read more>>

Vancouver Home Sales Drop 19% Amid Clampdown on Foreign Buyers

Home sales in Metro Vancouver fell 18.9 per cent in July, compared with the same month a year ago, and 26.7 per cent, compared with June, according to statistics that the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver released August 3.

Prices, however, continued to rise. A benchmark home in the region is now C$930,400 (US$712,24), or 32.6 per cent more than a year ago. That price is 1.4 per cent more than the C$917,800 (US$702,578) benchmark price in June. Read more>>

Ritz Carlton, IHG Fined $300K for Hurting the Feelings of China’s Tax Man

China slapped fines of more than US$300,000 on the Ritz Carlton and Crowne Plaza hotels in Beijing, along with four other companies for using recent tax reforms to justify price increases.

The country’s top economic regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), posted the names of six businesses that had been fined 2 million yuan each on its website on Friday, Reuters reported.

The companies had raised prices following the May 1 rollout of a value-added tax (VAT) system in the construction, property, finance and life services, which cover the hospitality, healthcare and tourism industries. Read more>>

CSRC Restricts Refinancing Options for Developers

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has further restricted use of refinancing proceeds by developers to repay bank loans or bid for land. The money is allowed only for construction, according to website people.cn.

The report quoted a CSRC official as saying enterprises are no longer encouraged to use refinancing proceeds to replenish capital and to repay loans, and they need to publish detailed reports on the actual use. Read more>>

Li Ka-Shing’s Hui Xian REIT on Hunt for Mainland Assets

Yuan-denominated Hui Xian REIT (87001), a spin-off from Li Ka-shing’s development empire in 2011, said it is up for more acquisitions in the first- and second-tier mainland cities.

Hui Xian posted an 8-percent increase in amount available for distribution for the first half this year to 805 million yuan (HK$940 million). The payout ratio is down 1 percent to 97 percent compared to last year. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.