KKR, Bain Each Bid Over $5B for Seven & I Assets and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

The ongoing rivalry between KKR and Bain Capital leads today’s headline roundup, with the private equity majors reportedly vying for the non-core assets of Japan’s Seven & I Holdings. Also making the list, Indian conglomerate Welspun explores the sale of a stake in its warehouse unit and Hong Kong’s Avatar Capital buys a luxury residential building in Tokyo.

KKR, Bain Each Bid Over $5B for Assets of 7-Eleven Parent Seven & I

Private equity firms KKR and Bain Capital each offered more than $5 billion in first-round bids for the non-core assets of Japan’s Seven & I Holdings, according to people familiar with the matter.

KKR offered JPY 800 billion ($5.1 billion) for York Holdings, an entity due to be spun out of the Japanese retailer, two of the people said. Rival US firm Bain offered JPY 1.2 trillion, one person said. Local buyout firm Japan Industrial Partners offered JPY 750 billion, one said. Read more>>

India’s Welspun Said Exploring Sale of Stake in Warehouse Unit

The promoters of the textiles-to-infrastructure Welspun Group, the Goenka family, are exploring options to dilute their stake in warehousing and logistics firm Welspun One, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

Welspun One, which has a number of warehousing assets located in key markets in India and runs alternative investment funds, has been planning to raise more funds, aiming to take its assets under management to $1 billion by 2026. Read more>>

Avatar Capital Closes on Buy of Tokyo Residential Block

Fund manager Avatar Capital Partners on Thursday announced the closing of its purchase of a luxury residential building in central Tokyo.

The buy of Project Naka, which Avatar had announced in June, marks the first deal by the company co-founded by former Macquarie Asset Management executives Angel Li and Ryuta Ueda, together with former CLSA director Ronald Chiu. Read more>>

Australia’s QIC Shops for Investors in Seoul

Queensland Investment Corp, an Australian state fund, is looking to increase its exposure to Korean capital in burgeoning infrastructure investment, according to chief Kylie Rampa.

Rampa heads QIC, one of Australia’s largest institutional investment managers with nearly $80 billion in assets under management. QIC operates both as a limited partner and a general partner with about 50 percent of total assets under management coming from clients other than the Queensland government. Read more>>

China Finance, Real Estate Workforces Shrink for the First Time

China’s finance and property companies saw their workforces shrink in recent years for the first time, reflecting the damage caused by a housing market collapse and regulatory probes.

The financial industry had 12.4 million employees at the end of 2023, down 32 percent from five years earlier, according to economic census data released Thursday. The number of people working for developers slid 27 percent to 2.7 million people. Read more>>

Residential Rents in Mainland China Slide to Four-Year Low

Average housing rents in Chinese cities slid to a four-year low in November amid supply gluts and weakness in the job market, a trend that could further prolong the country’s years-long slump in property prices.

Rents in 100 major cities averaged RMB 2,636 ($361) per 100 square metres (1,076 square feet) this past November, data from research firm Wind shows — the lowest since the same month of 2020. Read more>>

Alibaba Sets Up $4B E-Commerce JV With Korea’s E-Mart

Alibaba Group has agreed to form a joint venture for its South Korean operations with E-Mart’s e-commerce platform to better compete in the country’s fast-paced online retail sector.

AliExpress International and Gmarket are creating a 50:50 JV, according to a stock exchange filing by E-Mart that confirmed a Bloomberg report. The companies plan to make further investments in the JV, which will own 100 percent of Gmarket. Both Gmarket and AliExpress Korea will continue to operate their platforms independently. Read more>>

Hong Kong Government May Roll Out More Housing Near Pak Shek Kok Science Park

Pak Shek Kok’s development plan may be adjusted to focus on private housing, the Development Bureau of Hong Kong said, adding that the government aims to release a preliminary proposal as early as the second quarter of 2025.

After reviewing the housing area next to Science Park, the Development Bureau found it more appropriate to develop private homes, just four months after the government was reported to have planned to build 10,000 private and public units there. Read more>>

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