The Intercontinental Miami is not getting much love from Mirae or Dajia
A pair of Asian companies doing their best not to own a set of US luxury hotels leads today’s real estate news as Korea’s Mirae Asset Management and China’s Dajia Insurance hurl blame at each other over a failed $5.8 billion hospitality deal.
Meanwhile, back in China, the government has approved a pilot program for mutual funds to issue publicly trade REITs, and a pair of Softbank-backed businesses – WeWork and Oyo Hotels – both continue to make cost-cutting moves as they drive for profitability in this century’s most challenging year. All these stories and more await you in Mingtiandi’s headline roundup.
Mirae Says Chinese Side to Blame for Failed $5.8B Hotel Deal
South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments said that it could not keep the April 17 deadline of finishing the deal of acquiring 15 U.S. hotels because its seller failed to keep certain conditions.
Early this week, China’s Dajia Insurance Group brought Mirae Asset to a Delaware court to enforce the contract. But Mirae Asset said that the plaintiff is responsible for the delayed closing. Read more>>
China’s Dajia Accuses Mirae of Legal Shenanigans in Cancelled Hotel Deal
Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. is relying on legally faulty pretexts to justify its cancellation of a $5.8 billion purchase of 15 U.S. luxury hotels, China’s Dajia Insurance Group contends in an unsealed lawsuit.
Dajia — which assumed the assets of struggling Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group Co. — says it satisfied all terms of the sale, but Mirae has cited a myriad of reasons why it can’t close, according to the Delaware Chancery Court complaint. With hotels shuttered by the pandemic, Mirae “began efforts to wriggle out” of the deal, according to the 48-page suit seeking to complete the purchase. Read more>>
China Approves Pilot of Publicly Traded REITs
China’s government this week gave its go-ahead for the set up of real estate investment trusts (REIT), opening a channel that lets investors tap the country’s property growth, while limiting their speculation in bricks-and-mortar buildings.
The pilot programme, implemented after more than a year of public consultations, will allow China’s mutual funds to issue public REITs that can be bought and sold like stocks on the country’s exchanges, according to an April 30 statement by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Read more>>
Yida China Makes Good After Defaulting on $53M Bond
Yida China Holdings, which failed to repay US$52.854m 6.95% bonds on time on April 19, said it made the payment on April 24 after transferring the funds.
The Hong Kong-listed Chinese real estate company earlier said the failure to redeem the 2020 notes on time had triggered a cross-default on onshore loans of up to Rmb9.8bn (US$1.38bn). Read more>>
WeWork Plans Fresh Job Cuts in May
The embattled co-working company WeWork eliminated more jobs on Thursday as part of an ongoing series of cuts since the company’s failed attempt at an initial public offering last fall, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sandeep Mathrani, the WeWork chief executive officer, warned staff two weeks ago that more jobs would be lost on top of the 2,400 eliminated last year and 250 more in March. “I want to do it once and know we have a company we can all move forward with,” he said at the time. Read more>>
Softbank’s Oyo Hotels Cutting More Properties in Profitability Drive
India’s Oyo Hotels and Homes, backed by SoftBank Group, plans to offload more properties around the world, three sources familiar with the matter said, as the coronavirus pandemic prompts it to speed up a retreat from a rapid global expansion.
The hospitality sector has been one of the worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with global and domestic travel coming to a near-halt. Read more>>
Rockefellers Hope to Pin “SixRock” Brand to China Resort Projects
Members of America’s Rockefeller family, one of the world’s wealthiest, are renewing their business interests in China by looking for golf and resort projects that are likely to benefit from the prestige of their illustrious group.
The SixRock group, founded by sixth-generation family members Christian Rockefeller and Sebastian Gumina, along with Steven C. Rockefeller Jr, is banking on the prestigious family name to boost real estate projects across the globe that might find value in the brand. Read more>>
Singapore Retail REITs Regain Appeal: Morningstar
FOR long-term investors willing to look beyond the novel coronavirus outbreak, value has emerged in Singapore retail real estate investment trusts (Reits) with attractive dividend yields, according to a report by Morningstar Equity Research.
Following an estimated 30 per cent decline in unit prices year-to-date as at April 15, Morningstar sees value emerging in three retail-exposed Reits, namely CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), Suntec Reit, and Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT). 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.
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