HNA Chair Chen Feng Barred From Flying Over $5,300 Debt

A once high-flying mainland investor has been grounded by the courts after failing to make a $5,300 payment ordered in a lawsuit judgement, landing HNA Group at the top of the news once again.

Also in the real estate headlines from around Asia today, China Evergrande Group says that it has raised $516 million from investors including Tencent to help fuel its electric car division and home buyers in Singapore were feeling charged up in August as they drove sales of new units to an 11-month high.

HNA Chair Chen Feng Barred From Flying Over $5,300 Default

The chairman of cash-strapped HNA Group has been barred from taking flights and high-speed trains and going on vacations due to the Chinese conglomerate’s failure to pay a court-ordered $5,300 in a lawsuit, a court document showed.

The once high-flying company, which owns Hainan Airlines <600221.SS>, is in the midst of a restructuring led by the Hainan government to resolve its liquidity risks stemming from years of aggressive acquisitions abroad. Read more>>

Tencent to Lead $516.12M Investment in Evergrande Car Unit

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd 0708.HK said on Tuesday that investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd 0700.HK and Sequoia Capital will buy HK$4 billion ($516.12 million) worth of company shares in a share sale.

The electric vehicle unit of property developer China Evergrande 3333.HK said its controlling shareholder plans to sell 176.58 million existing shares, or about 2% of the share capital, to not less than six third-party investors. Read more>>

Singapore New Home Sales Hit 11-Month High in August

Bucking Singapore’s worst recession and the Hungry Ghost month, new home sales in Singapore continued to rise for a fourth straight month, reaching the highest since September 2019.

Developers in August sold 1,256 private homes, up 16.3 per cent from 1,080 units in July, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday (Sept 15). Read more>>

DBS Boosts SG Office REITs on Chinese Tech Demand

DBS Group Research on Wednesday (Sept 16) reiterated its positive stance on Singapore office real estate investment trusts (Reits), citing a potential upcycle in office demand spurred by the expansion plans of Chinese technology giants.

In their report, analysts Rachel Tan and Derek Tan pointed to recent news that Tencent had picked Singapore as its Asia hub after setbacks in the United States and India, with other Chinese giants, including Alibaba and ByteDance, also reportedly making plans to expand in the Republic. Read more>>

Chinese Property Software Firm Plans $797M HK IPO

Ming Yuan Cloud Group, a software solutions provider for property developers, plans to raise as much as US$797 million from an IPO in Hong Kong, becoming the first software-focused Chinese proptech firm to debut on the city’s exchange this year.

The Shenzhen-headquartered company’s initial public offering is among a spate of applications that have been passed by the Hong Kong stock exchange’s listing committee last week, which could make September one of the busiest months for IPOs this year. Read more>>

Shenzhen Shares Marriage Data with Banks to Fight Fraud

Shenzhen, China’s answer to Silicon Valley, has set up an information-sharing system that will allow banks to access homebuyers’ marital status, closing a loophole that let married buyers amass property by submitting forged divorce papers and posing as first-time buyers.

The city currently allows married couples to buy no more than two homes. They can borrow loans of up to 70 per cent of a property’s value at a lower rate for their first home, and up to 30 per cent for a second property. First-time homebuyers, however, enjoy more favourable policies, including a home purchase quota and cheaper loans. Read more>>

South Korea’s Kakao Corp to Build Hyperscale Data Centre

South Korean tech company Kakao Corp will build its first data center 30km (18 miles) south of the capital, Seoul.

The new facility, when finished, will focus on cloud and AI solutions. Kakao is one of Korea’s largest Internet portals, operates its own ride-hailing platform, and online bank. Read more>>

Tenants in Hong Kong’s Harbour City Snub Wharf Offer

Hong Kong’s biggest shopping centre Harbour City, owned by Wharf Real Estate Investment Company, has yielded to pressure from tenants, backing down from its earlier demand that they renew their lease for 18 months to avail of the rent concessions.

However, dozens of tenants have decided against signing the letter as they would have to return the rent concession in full if they fail to abide by the terms of the offer that includes clearing all “outstanding rent, charges and any arrears accrued up to 31 August 2020 before 15 September 2020”. Read more>>

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