In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Singapore’s Keppel Corp raises the stakes in its bidding war for SPH’s real estate business, Canadian giant Brookfield is reportedly seeking a buyer for its IFC Seoul complex, and Chinese developer Fantasia’s shares plunge after a bond default.
Keppel Boosts Singapore Press Holdings Offer to $2.8B
Conglomerate Keppel Corp has raised its offer to buy Singapore Press Holdings’ non-media business at a valuation of $2.8 billion, heating up a bidding war with a consortium that includes firms linked to state investor Temasek Holdings.
Singapore’s Keppel said late Tuesday that it was now offering S$2.351 per share to SPH shareholders in cash plus stock, higher than its initial offer of S$2.099 and outbidding Cuscaden Peak’s S$2.10 per share. Read more>>
Brookfield Said Marketing $2.5B IFC Seoul
Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management plans to sell International Finance Center Seoul, located in the capital’s Yeouido financial district, and the market’s attention is now on how much profit the Canadian asset firm could reap after owning the property for the last five years.
According to investment banking industry sources, Brookfield recently appointed Eastdil Secured, a top-tier global real estate investment banking company based in New York, to handle the sale. Eastdil Secured handled IFC Seoul’s sale back in 2016 to Brookfield from the previous owner, AIG Group. Read more>>
Fantasia’s Shares Sink After Bond Payment Default
Shares of Fantasia Holdings Group plunged by nearly half to a record low on Wednesday after the debt-laden Chinese developer defaulted on a US dollar bond and warned there was no guarantee it could meet other financial obligations.
The Hong Kong-listed developer said in a filing late Tuesday that it did not repay a $205.7 million bond that was due on 4 October. Apart from its 2021 notes, Fantasia said there were no other overdue bonds and loans of a material nature. Read more>>
Evergrande Faces Biggest Payment Test Yet as Grace Periods End
China Evergrande Group is facing its biggest payment test since signs of a liquidity crisis emerged at the firm five months ago.
Investors are waiting to see if the embattled developer makes coupon payments totaling $148.1 million for three US dollar bonds before the end of 30-day grace periods on Wednesday. Evergrande missed the initial interest deadlines last month, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Read more>>
Han’s Holdings Weighs Exit From A$3B Sydney Twin Towers Project
Private Chinese developer Han’s Holdings, which has proposed a dramatic 80-storey twin-tower scheme in the midtown precinct of the Sydney CBD, is weighing an exit from the project that will have an end value of about A$3 billion ($2.2 billion).
Local and international developers have been circling the site, known as 338 Pitt Street, assembled by Han’s Holdings over the past seven years via a series of building purchases that left it controlling a chunk of an entire city block. Read more>>
Far East Orchard Posts Bigger Net Loss of $9.3M
Far East Orchard has reported that its net loss for the nine months ended 30 September has widened to S$12.6 million ($9.3 million) from S$6.3 million a year ago.
Revenue slid by 10.2 percent year-on-year to S$75.4 million as the pandemic continued to weigh on Far East Orchard’s hospitality business, in particular in Australia. Read more>>
Singapore Tycoon’s Wife Claims Half of $24.7M Home Sale Proceeds
The wife of Lim Oon Kuin has taken out legal proceedings against the liquidators of the oil trader Hin Leong Trading founded by her husband, claiming that she is entitled to a 50 percent interest in a Good Class Bungalow recently sold for S$33.39 million ($24.7 million).
Tan Sook Eng filed an originating summons, naming the firm in compulsory liquidation and its two liquidators as defendants in the legal action launched on 20 October. Read more>>
As Property Crisis Spreads, Beijing Says There’s Nothing to See
When times were flush for the property developer China Fortune Land, it bought a trophy soccer club and recruited star athletes from Argentina. These days, the players with the club, Hebei FC, are on indefinite leave because it cannot afford to keep the lights on.
The developer is one of a growing number facing financial strain in China, challenging the narrative from Beijing that it can keep the country’s corporate debt crisis under control while avoiding the disorderly collapse of its property giants. Read more>>
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