GLP Kicks Off Construction on Four UK Projects and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Following news today that it had raised an additional $608 million for its pan-European logistics fund, GLP followed up with an announcement that it is kicking off construction of one million square feet of warehouses in the UK.

Also in the news, Warburg Pincus has upped its stake in an Indian mortgage lender, and sales of new condos in Singapore jumped by 57 percent last month to record their biggest December in eight years.

GLP Kicks Off Construction on 1 Mil Sq Ft of UK Warehouses

GLP announced today that it is starting construction on 1 million square feet of warehouse space across seven units and four sites in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, following the grant of planning permission. It is the largest programme of speculative logistics real estate development currently underway in the UK.

The development programme has been launched to satisfy the significant demand in an increasingly supply-constrained logistics real estate market in the UK. It follows GLP’s completion of 1.25 million square feet of speculative development at Magna Park South, Lutterworth in December 2020. Read more>>

Warburg Pincus Hikes Stake in India’s Home First Finance to 30.62%

Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus has increased its stake in affordable housing financier Home First by 5.03 per cent, taking its total to 30.62 per cent of the paid-up equity share.

This follows a stake sale by certain existing shareholders to Orange Clove Investments BV, an affiliate of the private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus. Read more>>

Singapore Private Home Sales Jump 57% in December

Developers in Singapore sold 1,217 new private homes in December, up 57.2 per cent from the 774 units sold in November.

Year on year, the latest figure is 2.3 times the 538 units developers moved in December 2019. Read more>>

China Evergrande May Tumble, UBS Analysts Say in ‘Sell’ Call

China Evergrande Group was downgraded to sell by UBS Group AG analysts, who said shares of the world’s most indebted developer may lose more than half their value.

UBS cut its rating on Evergrande from neutral on Jan 12, according to a research report led by analyst John Lam and seen by Bloomberg. The bank also slashed the 12-month target price to HK$6 from HK$15.20 set in September. The target is 59 per cent lower than Evergrande’s closing price on Wednesday. Read more>>

Guoco Group Launches Plan to Privatise Hotel Unit

A wholly-owned special purpose vehicle of Hong Kong-listed Guoco Group intends to make a voluntary conditional cash offer of S$0.70 per share to take GL Limited private and delist it from the Singapore Exchange.

The move will provide greater management flexibility to help GL “navigate a challenging and unprecedented operating environment” driven by Covid-19, Brexit and low oil and gas prices, hotel operator GL said in a bourse filing on Friday. Read more>>

WeWork CEO Says on Track to be Profitable by Year-End

WeWork Chief Executive Sandeep Mathrani said Wednesday the co-working firm is “completely on track” to reach profitability by the fourth quarter of this year, and its office spaces in China have nearly bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.

Mathrani took the helm at WeWork in February to turn around the company after a disastrous period in which WeWork scrapped its initial public offering, fired its founder Adam Neumann and faced bankruptcy. Read more>>

BHG Singapore to Open New Concept Store at Raffles City This Month

BHG Singapore will take over two floors at Raffles City Shopping Centre as Robinsons closed its last outlet there last Saturday (Jan 9).

In partnership with Raffles City Singapore, the department store will open a new concept store showcasing its best beauty, fashion, and home and living products. Read more>>

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