Philips Said Close to Selling $73M SG Industrial Asset and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Singapore’s sizzling industrial property market leads today’s roundup of real estate headlines from around the region, as European electronic conglomerate Philips is said to be selling its last remaining workshop facility in the city-state.

Also in the news, Korea’s Mirae Asset has triumphed in a legal battle after China’s Anbang Insurance had filed suit over a failed $5.8 billion US hotel deal and credit ratings agency Moody’s has stopped tracking the credit of China’s Fantasia Holdings as the developer inches closer to liquidation.

Philips Said Close to Selling $73M Philips APAC Centre in SG

European electronics conglomerate company Philips is in the process of selling its remaining industrial property in Singapore. The Business Times understands that discussions to sell the property, at 622 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, are in advanced stages.

Word on the grapevine is that Philips appointed CBRE to conduct an expression of interest (EOI) exercise for a sale-and-leaseback of the 6-storey property, known as the Philips APAC Center. The EOI exercise is said to have been launched in September. CBRE declined to comment. Read more>>

Mirae Wins Court Battle with Anbang Insurance Over Failed $5.8B Hotel Deal

A consortium led by South Korea’s leading asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments said Thursday it has won a legal battle with China’s Anbang Insurance Group over a deal to purchase hotels in the United States.

In September 2019, the consortium signed a contract to take over 15 hotels in the U.S. from the Chinese firm for US$5.8 billion, but it cancelled the deal in May last year, claiming Anbang did not fulfill its obligations. Read more>>

Moody’s Withdraws Fantasia Rating on Lack of Information

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday that it has withdrawn its Ca Corporate Family Rating for Fantasia Holdings Group Co and it C senior unsecured ratings on the company’s bonds on the basis that “it has insufficient or otherwise inadequate information to support the maintenance of the ratings”.

The company noted that prior to the withdrawal the ratings outlook on Fantasia was negative. The mainland developer had missed a bond payment in October and media reports this month have indicated that Fantasia’s creditors have hired receivers. Read more>>

Keppel Shareholders Approve SPH Acquisition

Shareholders of Keppel Corporation have voted in favour of a proposal to acquire Singapore Press Holdings according to an announcement by the Singapore-listed conglomerate. Keppel’s final offer for SPH is S$2.351 per share, consisting of S$0.868 per share in cash, 0.596 of a Keppel REIT unit and 0.782 of an SPH REIT unit.

In an extraordinary general meeting held on Dec 9, some 98.2 percent of shareholder votes signalled their approval for the acquisition, while 1.8 percent voted against it. Keppel Corp is going up against Temasek Holdings-backed consortium Cuscaden Peak, which includes Hotel Properties (HPL), businessman Ong Beng Seng, and two Temasek-linked entities, Capitaland parent CLA and Mapletree, in the battle for SPH. Read more>>

Tokyo Office Vacancy Drops for First Time in 21 Months

The average office vacancy rate across Tokyo’s five central wards dropped to 6.35% in November, down 0.12 points from the previous month, logging the first decline in 21 months.

Potential reasons for the shrinking vacancy rate include a stronger trend of employees returning to office work in Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya wards following the decline in novel coronavirus cases. Read more>>

Singapore Big-Ticket Industrial Deals Nearly Double in 2021

Industrial properties have been in high demand in Singapore this year, with a total of S$4 billion in big-ticket transactions (of at least S$10 million each) year to date (with the latest transaction dated Nov 19), based on Cushman & Wakefield Research’s analysis.

“The YTD tally is almost double 2020’s full-year industrial property investment sales value of S$2.1 billion, reflecting robust demand from investors and industrialists,” said C&W’s Singapore research head Wong Xian Yang. Read more>>

Shriram Properties India IPO 4.6 Times Subscribed

Shriram Properties share sale via initial public offering (IPO) was subscribed 4.60 times on the third and final day of its issue, according to subscription data on the stock exchanges. The real estate developer plans to raise ₹ 600 crore through the issue, which consists of an offer for sale worth ₹ 350 crore and fresh issue of ₹ 250 crore.

On Friday, the portion reserved for retail individual investors was subscribed 12.71 times – the highest among the three groups of investors. The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers or QIB was subscribed 1.85 times, while the portion reserved for non-institutional investors was subscribed 4.82 times. Read more>>

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