Loss-making Luckin Coffee Hits $561M IPO Jackpot and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Coffee leads the way in Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate headlines today with news that the Chinese rival to Starbucks has ground out $561 million from a larger-than-expected IPO, making the online to offline coffee chain full of beans.

In other news around the region, mainland house prices record a 48th consecutive month of increases, while Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison denies hiding $7.4 billion in debt.

Elsewhere, a Japanese developer signs a $115 million deal to build modular homes for the Brexit-challenged UK government, and a major Singapore-listed developer is set to issue $109 million of perpetual securities.

Loss-Making Luckin Coffee Hits $561M IPO Jackpot  

Luckin Coffee Inc, the Chinese challenger to Starbucks Corp, on Thursday (May 16) priced its US initial public offering at the top end of its targeted price range and sold more shares than planned in the biggest US float by a Chinese firm this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Beijing-based coffee chain raised $561 million by selling 33 million American depository shares (ADS), more than the 30 million it originally said it would sell, at $17 each, at the top end of an indicative range of $15 to $17. Read more>>

48th Straight Month of Home Price Increases on the Mainland

New home prices in China grew at a solid pace in April as Beijing sought to boost economic activity in the face of an escalating trade war with the United States, though potential bubble risks may prompt some cities to tighten policies.

Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities rose 0.6 percent in April, unchanged from the pace of growth in March, according to Reuters calculation of data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday. Read more>>

CK Hutchison Denies Hiding $7.4B of Debt

Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. “may be concealing” HK$57.7 billion ($7.4 billion) of debt as a result of aggressive accounting, a Hong Kong-based researcher said on its website, allegations the company denied.

GMT Research Ltd., which uses its own proprietary accounting and corporate governance analysis system, posted the research related to accounting treatment of debt by the company and recommended avoiding the stock. CK Hutchison “rejects any innuendo or suggestion of accounting irregularity,” it said in a statement Tuesday, adding that the lead of the GMT report “appears selective, biased and materially misleading.” Read more>>

Sekisui Signs £90M UK Housebuilding Deal

The UK government has entered into a partnership with one of Japan’s largest developers on a £90m housebuilding scheme, as it seeks to increase new housing supply to address a shortage of homes.

Homes England, a government body, and Sekisui House have invested in a joint venture with UK developer Urban Splash, which aims to deliver “thousands of new homes.” Read more>>

HK Startups Partner to Launch $120M US Healthcare Real Estate Fund

Hong Kong-based Aeneas Capital and Pyrinas, both affiliated companies to Aptorum Group Ltd (Nasdaq: APM), is launching its flagship fund – Pyrinas US Healthcare Real Estate Fund 1 SP – to acquire and develop co-working space and incubator facilities for the life sciences sector in the United States.

The target of Pyrinas US Healthcare Real Estate Fund 1 SP is $120 million. Read more>>

Wing Tai to Issue $109M in Perpetual Securities

Mainboard-listed property and retail player Wing Tai Holdings will be issuing S$150 million ($109 million) NC5 4.48 per cent perpetual securities.

The securities are expected to be issued on or around May 24, subject to customary closing conditions, the group said on Thursday in a regulatory filing. Read more>>

HK Luxury Home Prices Creep up 0.3%

Luxury home prices in Hong Kong edged up just 0.3 percent in the first quarter as prices globally rose at their slowest pace in a decade, according to figures from Knight Frank.

High-end residential property prices in 45 cities across the world crept up by 1.3 per cent in the first three months of 2019 from the same period a year ago, as the US-China trade war and stuttering economies in Europe dampened growth. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.