Mastern Said to Receive $630M Bid for Seoul Tower and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

South Korea’s Mastern Investment Management picks local player KIS as the preferred bidder for a 34-storey Seoul office tower, with that prospective deal leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, Hong Kong’s New World Development offers additional properties as loan collateral and China’s new home prices stay flat for a second straight month.

Mastern Said to Choose Preferred Bidder for Seoul’s Doosan Tower

Mastern Investment Management has selected Korea Investment & Securities as the preferred bidder for Doosan Tower after KIS reportedly offered KRW 900 billion ($630 million) for the Seoul office building, according to local news reports citing market sources.

The 34-storey tower is said to have also attracted bids from IGIS Asset Management and Kiwoom Asset Management after Mastern had acquired the building from Doosan Group for KRW 800 billion in 2020. Read more>>

New World Said to Offer Additional $3.8B in Properties as Loan Collateral

Hong Kong’s New World Development has proposed using $3.8 billion in additional properties as collateral to refinance bank loans maturing in 2027 and beyond, according to people familiar with the matter, as the company looks to ease liquidity pressure.

The latest move follows an earlier proposal to pledge 25 property assets valued at $15.3 billion to refinance $7.7 billion in loans maturing this year and next. It brings New World’s total collateral package to $19.1 billion. Read more>>

China Home Prices Levelled Off in January as Policy Boost Fades

China’s new home prices stalled in January, official data showed Wednesday, suggesting that the crisis-hit property sector is struggling to stabilise despite continued government efforts to prop up the market.

Prices were unchanged for the second straight month, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics data. On a year-on-year basis, new home prices fell 5 percent, narrowing from a 5.3 percent drop the previous month. Read more>>

Kowloon East Industrial Units Sell for 20% Below 2013 Price

A set of industrial units in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong area have sold for HK$5,255 ($676) per square foot — a 20 percent markdown from the seller’s 2013 acquisition price, according to local news reports citing brokerage sources.

The three connected units on the 22nd floor of 1 Hung To Road in Kwun Tong changed hands for a total of HK$18.56 million. The tower next to Ngau Tau Kok station on Hong Kong’s MTR network is popular among dealers in second-hand cell phones. Read more>>

Greentown China to Issue $150M in Bonds to Refinance Debt

Greentown China said Tuesday that it would issue additional dollar bonds worth $150 million to help refinance its existing borrowings, after offering the first dollar bond sale in the sector in two years last week.

The state-backed developer last week said it sold $350 million worth of 8.45 percent senior notes due in 2028, the first dollar bond sale by a Chinese developer since early 2023, in a sign that some investor appetite for speculative-grade China property debt could be returning. Read more>>

Blackstone Extends $1.3B Loan on Chicago’s Willis Tower for Three More Years

Blackstone extended its nearly $1.3 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities loan on Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower. The debt, which was set to mature in March, was among the biggest US CMBS deals coming due in 2025.

Blackstone extended the maturity by three years, according to a source familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified citing private information. Property owners have often sought extensions to help manage debt loads as interest rates remain high. Read more>>

Canada’s RBI Looking for New Local Partner for Burger King China

Restaurant Brands International has bought its partners’ stakes in Burger King China for $158 million and is seeking a new local partner.

The company acquired the interests from TFI Asia Holdings BV and Pangaea Two Acquisition Holdings XXIII Ltd. RBI says it now owns nearly 100 percent of the business and is looking for a new local partner to invest in the operations and become the controlling shareholder. Read more>>

Japan’s Aeon Breaks Ground on Northern Vietnam Mall

Aeon Mall Vietnam, under Japanese retail giant Aeon Mall, on Monday kicked off construction of Aeon Mall Ha Long in Ha Long town of Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province, the firm said in a statement.

The mall, with a land area of 9.1 hectares (22.5 acres) and a total floor area of 13 hectares, is set to open in the second half of 2026. Aeon Mall highlighted the province’s advantages, including Ha Long’s attraction to tourists and high economic growth thanks to domestic and foreign investments. Ha Long is home to Halong Bay, a UNESCO natural heritage site. Read more>>

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