Korea's Hana in $325M US Student Housing JV with Scion

Hana’s new joint venture includes this property near Texas Tech in Lubbock

University halls lead the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with the news that a Seoul-based bank has spent $325 million in a JV with a US company to acquire 3,275 student housing beds in the US states of Florida, Colorado, Texas and Mississippi.

In other news around the region, a shopping mall owned by a Singapore REIT has closed until further notice after being ransacked by anti-government radicals, while an e-commerce giant is said to be closing its books to institutional investors earlier than expected after securing commitments already for its Hong Kong IPO.

Elsewhere, a jeweller in a protest-hit city has posted a 94 percent drop in profits.

Hana Enters into $325M US Student Housing JV with Scion

Hana Financial Investment and Chicago-based Scion Group have acquired a portfolio of four newly-developed student housing facilities for $325 million through a recently-formed joint venture.

Hana invested around $110 million in cash into the JV to take a 95 percent stake in the portfolio. The remainder of the acquisition cost is being financed through senior and mezzanine loans from local financial institutions and private equity funds, the sources said. Scion is taking a five percent interest. Read more>>

Ascendas India Trust Raised S$150M in Private Placement

Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) on Wednesday said it has raised S$150 million ($110 million) in gross proceeds from its upsized private placement, which was 4.1 times subscribed.

The issue price was fixed at S$1.508 per new unit, the top end of the S$1.465 to S$1.508 range. Read more>>

Hong Kong Bankers Mull Moving Abroad Amid Unrest

A senior banker born in Hong Kong plans to try getting a United States green card, just in case the city’s social unrest worsens.

Two other executives in town are working with a recruiter in Shanghai to move there, betting its future may be brighter. And at the local outpost of one of Europe’s top investment banks, a dealmaker says lifelong Hong Kong residents in his group are weighing their options, looking at a variety of countries. Read more>>

Hong Kong Mall Vandalised By Protesters Closed Until Further Notice, Says Singapore REIT

The manager of Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) said on Tuesday that its Festival Walk shopping mall in Hong Kong remains closed until further notice.

Due to extensive damage suffered last week in the city’s unrest, recovery works at the property, including the cleaning up of debris, and the assessment of repair works required are ongoing. Read more>>

Shui On Land Eyes Shanghai Developments After Land Wins

Shui On Land is planning to take on more urban redevelopment projects in Shanghai after winning two prime sites at state land auctions in the past three weeks, making the city its next source of earnings growth.

The builder paid RMB 1.86 billion ($260 million) for the 15,258 square metre (164,236 square foot) site at HongShouFang in Putuo in a winning bid on 1 November. That followed an earlier auction on 31 October, when its RMB 3.88 billion offer for four parcels of land totalling 90,059 square metres in Xujing Town, Qingpu district topped rival bids. Read more>>

Alibaba Said Closing Books Early for $13.8B Hong Kong IPO

Alibaba will close its order books to institutional investors early for its upcoming secondary listing in Hong Kong, a sign that demand for shares is strong, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC.

The e-commerce giant will close its book at 12 pm ET on Tuesday, earlier than initially planned, the sources, who wished to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak publicly, said. One of the sources who spoke to CNBC said the book will close half a day earlier than originally scheduled. Read more>>

Hong Kong Jeweller TSL Posts 94% Drop in Profit

Tse Sui Luen Jewellery International is in talks with landlords on rent reduction and is looking to expand its online shopping presence to counter a 94 percent decline in net profit for the first half because of the US-China trade war and ongoing anti-government protests.

The company said net profit for the six months ended September fell to HK$1.57 million ($200,600) from HK$24.27 million a year earlier, four percent lower than what the company had predicted during its profit warning last month. Revenue declined 13.6 percent to HK$1.65 billion from HK$1.91 billion, in line with its estimates. Read more>>

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