JD, Carlyle Said Bidding for CJ’s China Logistics and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s serving of regional news headlines, investors including one of China’s largest e-commerce operators, and a US private equity powerhouse are said to be bidding for the assets CJ Rokin’s China business, as the South Korean firm moves on from the mainland.

Also in the news, a Hong Kong property management firm reportedly raises $1.58 billion from its IPO, deal talks between India’s Embassy Industrial Parks and its interlocutors hit a snag over valuation, and American data giant Equinix makes plans for a $144 million purpose-built data centre in Singapore.

JD.Com, Carlyle Said Among Lead Bidders for CJ Group’s China Logistic Business

Chinese online retailer JD.com, delivery company SF Group and Carlyle are bidding for South Korean conglomerate CJ Group’s China logistics business in a deal that could fetch over $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

CJ Group has hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale of Shanghai-based CJ Rokin Logistics Supply Chain Co, which it acquired in 2015 via CJ Logistics Corp. Read more>>

China Resources Services HK IPO Said to Raise $1.58B

Property management company China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services has raised US$1.58 billion after pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering at HK$22.30 ($2.88) per share, the top of a marketed range, according to people familiar with the matter.

The services arm of developer China Resources Land sold 550 million new shares in the IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. An external representative for the company declined to comment. Read more>>

Deal Talks Between Embassy, ESR, IndoSpace Hit an Impasse

Deal talks between Embassy Industrial Parks, a joint venture between Bengaluru-based Embassy Group and US-based private equity fund manager Warburg Pincus, and logistics firms ESR and IndoSpace have hit a roadblock due to disagreements on valuation.

“Though term sheets were signed one after another, the talks did not materialise due to differences on valuation,” said a source in the know. The JV was looking to monetise the businesses, completed and under-construction assets, at an enterprise value of Rs 1,700-2,000 crore ($230-270 million). The source said the gap between the bid and ask price was well below 10 percent. Read more>>

Equinix Drops $144M on New Singapore Data Centre

Equinix will open a new purpose-built data centre during the first half of 2021 in Singapore, backed by an initial investment of $144 million in response to heightened demand for cloud connectivity services.

Representing the vendor’s fifth International Business Exchange launch in the city-state, the facility — named SG5 — will provide an initial capacity of more than 1,300 cabinets during the first phase, spanning approximately 18,400 square feet (1,709 square metres) of colocation space. Read more>>

Mirae Asset Wins US Lawsuit Over Anbang Hotel Deal

South Korean investment bank Mirae Asset Daewoo Co and affiliates won a US court case against Anbang Insurance Group, a court document showed, after Mirae scrapped a $5.8 billion deal after the start of the pandemic to buy 15 US hotels from Anbang.

The case in Delaware, where many companies are registered, could set a precedent for deals that have seen valuations drop since the COVID-19 pandemic, as buyers no longer want to buy assets under the terms of agreements reached before. Read more>>

SoftBank-Backed Ziroom Acquires Rival Apartment Platform

Ziroom, a China-based apartment rental platform, announced on its Weibo account that it has acquired Besbond, a provider of boutique long-term apartment rental services for young people. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Besbond was founded in 2014 and manages over 6,000 apartments in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in China, targeting white-collar workers. In 2017, the startup raised RMB 125 million (roughly $19 million) in a Series B round from Everyday Network, which valued the company at RMB 625 million. Read more>>

Mainland Developers Triple Spending on Land in 5 Years

China’s top 20 developers have tripled their spending on land acquisitions in the first nine months of this year compared to five years ago, with most of it focused on “new first tier” cities such as Wuhan, according to a report from a leading research firm.

The top players including Country Garden Holdings, China Evergrande, China Vanke, Greenland Holdings and China Overseas Land & Investment invested RMB 1.5 trillion ($228.3 billion) between January and September on growing their land bank, up from RMB 500 billion in 2015, according to Real Estate Foresight, which tracked land acquisitions by the top 20 companies in its report, “Where do top Chinese developers invest?” Read more>>

Hong Kong Developers Add Office Features to Resi Projects

Property developers in Hong Kong are responding to people’s needs as work from home becomes more common, by adding co-working spaces, strong information technology infrastructure and meeting facilities to new projects.

New residential developments have had to rethink communal spaces, said Simon Chua, the co-founder and executive director of architecture firm Lead 8. “The traditional clubhouses are useless during the pandemic,” Chua said. “Some developers have started converting them to co-working spaces that people can rent during the day. [They can] share facilities such as printing, meeting rooms and flexible spaces for work and relaxation.” Read more>>

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