Goldman’s Stephanie Hui is ramping up alts in Asia
Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs leads today’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines with the big bank saying that it plans to double its alternative investments in the region, according to a freshly published interview.
Evergrande also finds its way near the top of the list with the debt-addled developer having met a deadline to pay overdue interest today and there’s more news from ESR, Daiwa House and the Cheng family of New World Development fame.
Goldman Readies $40.6B for Alternative Investments in Asia
Goldman Sachs Group is set to plow at least $30 billion into Asian alternative assets over the next five years after revamping its operations and starting an aggressive campaign to raise outside funds in a bid to overtake investment giants such as KKR & Co and Blackstone.
In Asia, that means doubling investments to about $60 billion, betting on technology start-ups, real estate, consumer and renewable energy, said Ms Stephanie Hui, the bank’s co-head of alternative investing in the region. Read more>>
Evergrande Averts Default With Payment of Overdue Interest
China Evergrande Group is facing another $366 million in interest payments on its onshore and offshore debt – some already overdue – by the end of this year, after narrowly staving off default once again with a series of last-minute coupon payments on Wednesday.
It is just a small portion of the cascading amount of debt payments set to come due in the coming months for the world’s most indebted property developer. Read more>>
Asian Tycoon Snaps up $28M Penthouse on London’s Oxford Street
An Asian tycoon has snapped up a mega-penthouse on Oxford Street for £21.4 million ($28 million) so he and his wife can have a ‘London pied-a-terre’ when they entertain friends in Chinatown.
The sale of the huge home, which comprises of seven penthouses and private terraces, is the largest single residential property purchase by value on Oxford Street this year. Read more>>
ESR Buys 44 Acres in Chennai to Expand India Logistics Park
Logistics development platform ESR has acquired and added a 44-acre land parcel to its existing park in Chennai’s Oragadam locality and will invest Rs 260 crores ($35 million) developing the project, including costs for land construction.
This acquisition will help the company consolidate its ESR Oragadam facility to become an 80-acre park in the heart of Oragadam’s industrial belt. Read more>>
Daiwa House Logistics Trust Seeks SGX Listing
Japan’s Daiwa House Logistics Trust (DHLT), which will invest in logistics and industrial real-estate assets across Asia, is seeking a listing on the Singapore Exchange.
A preliminary prospectus lodged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Wednesday (10 Nov) says that the Reit’s manager will offer nearly 244.44 million units at S$0.80 a unit for subscription, as part of an offering which will include a placement tranche and a public offer. Read more>>
New World’s Henry Cheng Takes Control of Hong Kong’s iCable TV
Billionaire Henry Cheng Kar-shun is sinking HK$316.4 million ($40.6 million) to take full control of pay-TV operator i-Cable Communications to turn around 13 years of losses amid heightened interest in media assets in Hong Kong. The stock surged on the news.
The tycoon, whose family controls New World Development, disclosed an agreement signed in September to pay HK$208.9 million to buy out long-time partners David Chiu Tat-cheong and Li Sze Lim in Forever Top (Asia), the firm that owns 43.2 per cent of the city’s second-largest pay-TV operator. Read more>>
Embassy Group to Invest $80M in Bengaluru Office Project
Real estate developer Embassy Group plans to invest around Rs 600 crore ($80 million) to develop a 5.5 lakh sq ft of office space in Bengaluru.
The proposed project will come up in Bengaluru’s prime CBD area, where the iconic Le Méridien Hotel once stood. The project once completed with become part of Embassy Office Parks REIT. Read more>>
Credit Suisse, UBS Curb Margin Funding for China Property Bonds
The private banking units of Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG have stopped accepting the bonds of a growing number of Chinese developers as collateral for margin loans as turmoil mounts in the nation’s real estate sector.
Clients can no longer use dollar debt issued by Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., China Evergrande Group and Fantasia Holdings Group Co. as security for loans at the two banks, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named discussing internal decisions. Spokeswomen for Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment. Read more>>
China Property Stocks Rally on Hopes of Potential Policy Easing
Chinese developers’ stocks rallied on Wednesday on hopes that Beijing could loosen the refinancing for developers to prevent further deterioration of the real estate and related sectors.
According to Chinese media, the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors – a financial association responsible for debt financing of corporates in China – hosted a meeting with some developers in Beijing on Tuesday (Nov 9) to discuss the financing issue. Read more>>
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