Singapore's Mandarin Gardens Site Could Sell for $3.1B

Walmart is said to be ditching Alipay for WeChat Pay at its western China stores

Leading today’s roundup, the owners of Singapore’s Mandarin Gardens condominium agreed to put the mammoth project up for collective sale — but it won’t be cheap. Also in the headlines, a Singaporean developer is chipping in to a European property fund, and a Korean savings fund is buying into a China outlet mall vehicle. And users of WeChat Pay can now ditch their wallets in Walmart’s western China stores, though Alipay loyalists are out of luck. Read on for all these stories and more.

Mandarin Garden Owners Agree to En Bloc Offering

Owners of the Mandarin Gardens condominium approved an asking price of S$2.48 billion ($1.9 billion) as well as the method of apportionment at the second extraordinary general meeting on Sunday afternoon. The owners also reportedly approved the collective sale agreement.

In addition to the asking price, buyers would have to pay an estimated S$325.4 million as a top-up for a fresh lease, as well as an estimated S$1.28 billion in differential premium payable to the Government. All that could bring the total tab to nearly $4.09 billion ($3.1 billion), which translates to S$1,236 per sq ft per plot ratio. Read more>>

Ho Bee Land Commits $50M to Credit Suisse Property Fund

Property developer Ho Bee Land on Monday said it has agreed to invest up to 40 million euros (about $50 million) in Credit Suisse (Lux) European Property Fund II. It has also committed to co-invest up to an additional 50 million euros by acquiring notes issued by a securitisation company called Clouse SA, Compartment 29.

The fund invests in real estate and investment structures in key cities in Europe. The notes are issued through private placement, and the proceeds will be invested in a commercial building complex of about 45,000 sqm next to the main railway station in Munich, Germany. Read more>>

Korean Fund Invests $71M in TH Real Estate’s China Outlets

The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) has invested 77 billion won ($71 million) in a fund of TH Real Estate which acquired two premier outlet malls in China for $750 million last year on the upbeat outlook for China’s growing luxury goods market.

China Outlet Mall Fund (COMF), managed by TH Real Estate, bought two Florentia Village outlet malls in Shanghai and Jingjin, after reportedly raising $750 million in equity commitments. KTCU participated in the COMF as an equity investor, according to investment banking sources on March 23. Read more>>

Walmart Dumps Alipay for WeChat in Western China

Walmart has stopped supporting Alipay and started accepting WeChat Pay at all stores located in the Huaxi region of China (western China, including Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing), local media is reporting.

About a week ago, an image of a public notice at a Walmart store in Chongqing started circulating online. It stated that Walmart will stop accepting Alibaba’s payment method from March 15. On the same notice was the company’s announcement of a new WeChat Pay two-week promotional campaign. Read more>>

Chinese Developers Set Modest Sales Targets for 2018

Top Chinese developers that released their annual results on Monday have set modest sales targets for this year amid a less sanguine outlook under financial restrictions introduced by Beijing, and the pursuit of better margins to woo capital markets.

China Evergrande Group and China Overseas Land and Investment have set relatively modest contracted sales targets for 2018 compared with their robust performance last year. China Evergrande has set a target of 550 billion yuan (US$87.57 billion), compared with the 501 billion yuan it made last year. China Overseas is targeting HK$290 billion (US$36.95 billion), on the back of HK$232.07 billion last year. Read more>>

19 Investors Commit $850M to Lippo’s Jakarta Mega-Township

Meikarta, the mega residential township project being developed by Lippo Group, has received $850 million from 19 global partners focused on health & medicine, financial technology, education, logistics and technology research. The partnerships were inaugurated in Jakarta this week with ceremonies signing the memorandums of understanding (MOU).

Meikarta is in the East Jakarta Corridor, which will be integrated with new transportation networks. The development covers 22 million square metres in its first phase, designed since 2014. Work started in January 2016 with the initial construction of one hundred skyscrapers, each with 35 to 46 floors, and the creation a workforce expected to reach 65,000 individual jobs. Read more>>

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