KKR, GIC Selling Stake in India Lender for $500M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Private equity deals in India, stagnant home prices in Singapore and Silom Road megaprojects are among the top stories in Asia’s real estate markets this morning with America’s KKR and Singapore’s GIC leading the way with a reported $500 million sale of an equity stake in India’s biggest mortgage lender. In Singapore, government data shows home prices falling for a third month in a row, and in Bangkok, developer Central Pattana will get a chance to improve on the fun house floor plan and fourth tier city finishes of its Central Embassy/Park Hyatt complex with a $1.2 billion mixed-use JV project on the former Dusit Thani hotel site. Read on for all these stories and more.

KKR, GIC Said Selling Stake in India Mortgage Lender for $500M

KKR & Co and Government of Singapore Investment Corp are monetising part of their holdings in India’s largest mortgage lender, Housing Development Finance Corporation, through secondary market transactions, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter told India’s Economic Times.

The transaction would be for at least $500 million (Rs 3,472 crore) of HDFCNSE shares, which would constitute a little over 1 per cent of the company’s stake at Friday’s closing stock price. The monetisation will be through multiple block deals, which has already started and should get concluded before expected volatility in markets during general elections. Read more>>

Singapore Private Home Prices Slid Again in March

Singapore private home prices eased again for the second straight quarter, declining by 0.6 per cent for the first quarter of 2019 from the previous three-month period, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) flash estimate released on Monday (April 1).

The price drop in the first quarter of this year is slightly steeper than the 0.1 per cent dip in the fourth quarter of 2018. The URA’s private residential property index decreased 0.9 point from 149.6 points in the final three months of last year to 148.7 points in first quarter of this year. Read more>>

Dusit and Central Unveil Plans for THB 37B JV Project on Dusit Thani Hotel Site

Hotelier Dusit Thani and mall operator Central Pattana are investing 36.7 billion baht in a mixed-use project in Bangkok’s central business district of Silom, the companies said in a statement. Dusit Thani will hold 60% of the development through a separate company, with Central Pattana holding the remainder.

The 440,000-sq m Dusit Central Park will be located on a 23-rai plot at a corner of Silom Road and Rama IV Road where Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel was built. The hotel closed its doors early this year after 47 years to pave the way for the development. Read more>>

Greentown Education Unit Take 56% Stake in Aussie Montessori School Chain

Australia’s Montessori Academy, which was founded in 2008 by Charles and Colette Assaf and has since grown to 23 centres, has won the backing of Chinese early childhood education services providers, Greentown Education Group, a unit of Hangzhou-based real estate firm Greentown China.

The deal will see Greentown invest funds and other support to help fuel the Assafs’ growth plans in Australia and the region, including exporting their model to China. Greentown will take a 56 percent stake and the deal values Montessori Acadamy at A$120 million on an enterprise value basis. Read more>>

Xander Retail Unit Set to Buy Two India Mall Projects From Tata

Xander-backed Virtuous Retail is in advanced talks with Tata Realty and Infrastructure (TRIL) to buy two mall projects in a deal valued at around Rs 700 crore. TRIL will be exiting the two mall properties, totaling 1.15 million square feet, in Amritsar and Nagpur. TRIL owns 90% stake in these assets.

“The deal is expected to be concluded this month. While the Amritsar mall is operational, Nagpur is expected to open in the next two months,” one of the two people aware of the deal told ET. Read more>>

JustCo Expands in Australia With First Sydney Centre

Singaporean operator JustCo has secured its first digs in Sydney, leasing a 4,200 square metre space Dexus’ refurbished 175 Pitt Street tower as part of the company’s stated push to double its regional footprint and followed last month’s four-storey lease in Deka-ImmobilienGlobal’s refurbished 15 William Street office tower in Melbourne.

“JustCo has kicked off its Sydney presence by securing 4,200 sq m in a newly repositioned asset – one of many locations the company has been securing Australia-wide,” said former JLL Shanghai broker Lukas Kaz, who is now with CBRE’s tenant representation team, which acted for JustCo. Read more>>

Country Garden Cuts Land Purchases by 80% in Q1

China’s largest real estate developer by sales spent around 29 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) less on buying land in the first quarter, reducing its expenditures on the raw material for its new projects by nearly 80 percent amid sluggish demand in the smaller cities on which it has long focused.

Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. spent 7.4 billion yuan acquiring new land in the first three months of 2019, compared to 36.5 billion yuan over the same period in 2018, according to a report Friday by the China Index Academy (CIA), a property market research organization. The company spent 41.1 billion yuan on land in the first quarter of 2017. Read more>>

China’s Shrinking Cities Keeping Building Out Infrastructure

Dozens of cities in China are spending big on construction projects, despite having shrinking populations, a South China Morning Post analysis has found.

On paper, these debt-fuelled projects are major contributors to economic growth. But in reality, they do not bring real productivity, raising further questions about the efficiency and foresight of China’s urban planning.

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