JD.Com Said Buying Wanda Billing Platform for $230M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group continues to sell off piece of business units once touted as the future of the company, as a news report in China says the conglomerate will sell its online payment unit to e-commerce giant JD.com’s fintech division.

Also in the headlines, Hong Kong private equity firm PAG is said to be planning $8 billion in Japanese investments over the next four years, and a Korean institution is lined up to purchase the Qualtrics Tower in Seattle for more than $680 million.

JD.Com Said Buying Wanda Billing Platform for $230M

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc’s fintech unit plans to spend 1.6 billion yuan ($230 million) to get its hands on a second payment license, sources familiar with the matter told Caixin, as it seeks to expand its growing financial services business for brick-and-mortar merchants.

Jingdong Digits Technology Holding Co. Ltd., or JD Digits, aims to get the license by acquiring payment platform 99Bill Corp., which is currently controlled by Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd., one of China’s largest real estate conglomerates. Read more>>

PAG to Invest Up to $8B in Japan Real Estate

The Asia-focused private equity firm PAG will invest up to 840 billion yen ($8 billion) in Japanese real estate over the next four years, Nikkei has learned.

The investment specialist expects companies to sell off properties, along with financial institutions eager to shed bad debts, due to the coronavirus pandemic. PAG will look for desirable assets among these. Read more>>

Hana Named Preferred Bidder for Seattle Office Tower

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group has been named the preferred bidder for 2+U office tower in downtown Seattle, priced at about 800 billion won ($680.4 million) with an expected annual yield of about 7 percent thanks to long-term tenants that are mainly global IT firms.

A consortium of Hana Financial Group affiliates including Hana Alternative Asset Management Co. recently signed a memorandum of understanding on purchasing 2+U – a 38-story, 61,780-square-meter (665,000-square-foot) office tower in downtown Seattle, according to investment bank industry sources on Wednesday. The potential buyer is scheduled to commence due diligence soon. Read more>>

Marina Bay Sands Investigating S$1.36B in Money Transfers

Las Vegas Sands’ Singapore casino has hired a law firm to conduct a new investigation into employee transfers of more than US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) in gamblers’ money to third parties, according to people familiar with the matter.

Davinder Singh Chambers, which specialises in dispute resolution and international arbitration, was appointed after Singapore police began a probe of third-party transfers at Marina Bay Sands, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Read more>>

Longfor, KWG Hong Kong Projects Flop as Buyers Stay Home

Hong Kong’s avid homebuyers stayed on the sidelines for the first big sale of flats on Thursday after the government relaxed social distancing measures, reluctant to spend on big ticket items as the economy shows no signs of emerging from a recession that has stretched into four quarters.

As of 6pm, mainland developers Longfor Group and KWG Property managed to sell just one out of 123 flats at the Upper River Bank project in East Kowloon, close to the former Kai Tak airport, agents said, adding that they could possibly sell another unit before they close for the day. Read more>>

APAC Warehouse Rents Hold Steady on E-commerce Demand

THE first half of 2020 largely turned out to be a “resilient” period for Asia-Pacific warehouse markets; and expectations are for this sector’s rents in Singapore to remain stable till the rest of the year, according to research by property consultancy Knight Frank.

Prime warehouse rents in Singapore generally held steady in H1 2020, declining only 0.6 per cent to S$1.80 per square foot per month from H2 2019, Knight Frank said. Read more>>

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