GIC Revealed as Buyer of $1.3B Dutch Tech Park and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s GIC is unmasked as the buyer of a $1.3 billion tech park in the Netherlands, investment bank JP Morgan says Chinese property giants are understating the size of their debt pile, and those firms’ bonds and shares continue to slump as the Evergrande contagion perplexes regulators.

GIC Buys Netherlands Tech Park Through Oaktree Fund

The new owner of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and not US investment firm Oaktree Capital Management. The $1.3 billion sale of the campus to a fund managed by Oaktree was completed on Monday, but the money came from Singapore, Eindhovens Dagblad reported.

GIC was revealed as the buyer of the Eindhoven campus in a report from the Dutch Authority for Consumer and Markets. Campus director Jan-Willem Neggers explained to the newspaper that Oaktree manages a GIC-invested fund that now owns the facility which is home to some 235 companies. Read more>>

JP Morgan Says Chinese Property Giants Have Billions in Hidden Debt

Investment bank JP Morgan has estimated that troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande and many of its major rivals have billions of dollars worth of off-balance sheet debt that, once added on, ramp up their leverage ratios.

JP Morgan’s China and Hong Kong property analysts said the tactic is likely to have been used to help firms look like they were conforming with new borrowing cap rules introduced last year, but Evergrande’s case looks the most extreme. Read more>>

Evergrande Has Yet to Make Payment on Jumbo Fortune Bond

Creditors have yet to receive repayment of a dollar bond they say is guaranteed by China Evergrande Group and one of its units, in what could be the firm’s first major miss on maturing notes since regulators urged the developer to avoid a near-term default.

Some investors hadn’t received the principal payment for a note that matured on 3 October as of Thursday in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named discussing private matters. As 3 October was a Sunday, the effective due date was Monday. Read more>>

Chinese Property Bonds, Shares Slump as Evergrande Angst Spreads

Bonds and shares issued by Chinese developers slumped Friday as onshore markets returned from a week-long holiday with few clues as to how regulators propose to contain the contagion from cash-strapped China Evergrande Group’s debt problems.

Evergrande, whose shares remain suspended since it requested a trading halt on Monday pending a major transaction announcement, is facing one of the country’s largest defaults as it wrestles with debts totalling more than $300 billion. Read more>>

Hong Kong Developers Push Presale Applications to Three-Year High

Developers have applied for the presale consent for three projects that offer 2,966 units altogether, the most in three years, while more buyers are rushing to buy homes in Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu.

Government data showed that only 508 private homes were completed in August, falling 53.7 percent from July to a seven-month low. Read more>>

Kaisa, Central China Real Estate Bonds Tumble

Chinese property firms Kaisa Group and Central China Real Estate led another round of heavy declines in the corporate debt markets Thursday as the Evergrande-led rout in the sector rumbled on.

Kaisa, which became the first Chinese property developer to default back in 2015, saw one of its bonds due for repayment in April next year slump as much as 8.2 US cents. Read more>>

Top Global Divests Scotts Road Strata Lots for $23.5M

Real estate player Top Global has sold eight strata office lots out of a total of 23 that it owns at 15 Scotts, formerly known as Thong Teck Building, bringing in S$31.93 million ($23.5 million).

The eight strata lots occupy a total strata area of about 8,643 square feet (803 square metres) across the sixth and seventh floors of the nine-storey commercial building located at 15 Scotts Road. Read more>>

China Land Sales Fell 17.5% in August

Sagging demand at China’s urban land auctions amid a crackdown on borrowing by private developers risks squeezing regional finances, pressuring local governments to scramble for other income sources to fund investments and support the economy.

Land sales soared to a record RMB 8.4 trillion ($1.3 trillion) in 2020, the equivalent of Australia’s annual GDP, bolstering fiscal budgets in a pandemic year. Read more>>

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