Gaw Capital Reaches $1.3B Closing on Opportunity Fund and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Hong Kong’s highest profile private equity firm has reached another milestone as Gaw Capital Partners is reported to have reached a $1.3 billion closing for its latest opportunity fund. Two more familiar players are also back in the news, as Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda is reported to be looking for a buyer for a stake in a movie studio that it bought for $3.5 billion, and HNA is said to be looking for someone to acquire its $300 million private Boeing 787. All these stories and more await you in Mingtiandi’s news roundup.

Gaw Capital Reaches $1.3B Closing on Opportunity Fund

Hong Kong-based realty private equity investor Gaw Capital Partners has mopped up $1.3 billion for the first closing of its sixth opportunity fund, Gateway Real Estate Fund VI apart from another $650 million in co-investments for the same vehicle, according to a report from PERE.

The first close for the vehicle, that is targeting to raise $2 billion, was done earlier this month and almost 80 per cent of the amount came from its existing investor base. The co-investment tranche is separate from the hard cap of $2 billion. Read more>>

Wanda Said Selling Stakes in Movie Studio, Sports Holdings

China’s Dalian Wanda Group is exploring a partial sale of its Hollywood film studio and the full sale of its sports assets in its latest push to reduce offshore holdings under pressure from Beijing, sources familiar with the matter said.

Deals for the assets would essentially reduce the conglomerate’s overseas holdings to a handful of property developments, which are also reported to be on the block. Wanda has since refuted reports that it is selling its overseas entertainment and sports holdings. Read more>>

HNA Hopes to Add $300M Private 787 to Global Fire Sale

Cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has put up for sale its luxurious $300-million-plus Boeing 787 corporate “Dream Jet” with registration “2-DEER”, say six aviation industry sources familiar with the matter.

The 40-seat jet, used for charters as well as by top HNA officials, recently carried Cambodian president Hun Sen to the U.N. General Assembly in New York and undertaken flights between Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, and Beijing, on dates coinciding with a visit to China by President Denis Sassou Nguesso. Read more>>

Mapletree Said Close to Buying Chennai Office Park Asset

Singapore-based real estate asset manager Mapletree Investment Pte. Ltd is close to buying Chennai-based information technology park SP Infocity, jointly owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Shapoorji Pallonji Investment Advisors, for around ₹2,300-2,400 crore, according to two people aware of the matter.

Another Singapore-based sovereign fund, GIC Pvt. Ltd, which was bidding along with Mumbai-based real estate firm K. Raheja Corp for the property, is out of the fray, said the first of the two people cited above. GIC and Mapletree were the final contenders for the transaction. Read more>>

Indiabulls Raising $210M From Private Equity Investors

Financial services company Indiabulls Ventures Ltd is raising Rs 1,539.20 crore ($210 million) from four foreign institutional investors, including a private equity firm, to infuse long-term capital into two of its subsidiaries.

Indiabulls Ventures will make a preferential allotment of compulsorily convertible debentures to Tamarind Capital Pte Ltd, Hong Kong-bsed hedge fund Steadview Capital, US-based venture capital fund ABG Capital and DF International Partners. Read more>>

Mandarin Oriental Continues to Dangle HK’s Excelsior Hotel to Potential Buyers

The Mandarin Oriental Group will push ahead with its US$650 million plan to redevelop The Excelsior Hotel building in Hong Kong into a Grade A office tower, even as it holds out the possibility that it could still find a buyer for the iconic waterfront building.

Mandarin had called off an earlier sale, first announced in June 2017, after receiving lacklustre offers that failed to meet expectations, after valuers had forecast the property to fetch more than HK$30 billion (US$3.8 billion). Read more>>

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