20 Bidders Line Up for $654M Seoul Office Building and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

South Korea’s NH Financial is seeking to join a $654 million bid for a landmark Seoul office tower, with that story leading Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today. Carlyle Group also makes the list with a plan to boost its Japanese buyouts at the same time that the US private equity giant faces off with regional and global competitors in contest to scoop up a Korean construction firm.

NH Financial Likely to Join $654M Bid for Seoul D Tower Office Building

South Korea’s NongHyup (NH) Financial Group is likely to join the race for the purchase of Donuimun D Tower, a landmark office building in Seoul valued at around KRW 900 billion ($653.6 million), according to investment banking sources on Monday.

NH Financial subsidiary NongHyup REITs Management is reviewing an information memorandum on the sale of D Tower and is one of the largest institutions among the 20 potential buyers, sources said. The potential bidders are set to visit the property for evaluation this week. Read more>>

Carlyle Sets Sights on 300 Japanese Businesses as PE Deals Boom

Carlyle Group is studying about 300 Japanese businesses as part of its pipeline, a sign of the continuing boom in private equity deals in the country.

“We look at a lot of deals every day,” Kazuhiro Yamada, co-head of the Japan buyout advisory team, said in an interview. “Even though competition is increasing, if you look at the number of potential deals, there are actually not enough general partners to do them,” he said, referring to private equity firms and their executives. Read more>>

Carlyle, Keppel, Gaw Capital, IMM Vie for Korean Builder

Carlyle Group, Temasek-backed Keppel, Gaw Capital Partners and a consortium of IMM Investment and IMM Private Equity have been selected as final bidders for South Korea’s largest landfill company Ecorbit Co, according to people with knowledge of the matter on Monday.

A deal to sell the 50:50 joint venture between KKR and TSK Corp, a sewage management company under debt-ridden Taeyoung Group, is expected to bring in up to KRW 3 trillion ($2.2 billion). Read more>>

Hong Kong’s Identity Crisis Fuels $270B Property Wipeout

Even in a city famed for outsized real estate swings, Hong Kong’s deepening property slump stands out.

The home-price downturn in this packed metropolis will soon reach its five-year mark, the longest retreat since the depths of the SARS crisis more than two decades ago. When combined with losses in commercial property, at least HK$2.1 trillion ($270 billion) has been erased from real estate values in the city since 2019, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. Forecasters at UBS and CBRE predict more pain to come. Read more>>

Singapore Ramps Up Scrutiny of Family Offices, Hedge Funds

Singapore authorities are demanding more information from family offices and hedge funds while stepping up closures of dormant firms after a string of scandals highlighted cracks in the financial hub’s oversight.

The government’s push to tighten various investment regimes has accelerated since March, with agencies setting out additional requirements that must be met in the coming months and ramping up the removal of inactive corporate entities, according to people familiar with the matter. Read more>>

Sino-Ocean Soars After Cash-Strapped Developer Announces $550M Asset Sale

Shares of Sino-Ocean Group jumped after the troubled Chinese developer said it plans to sell a majority stake of a property project in Beijing for RMB 4 billion ($550 million) to its largest shareholder and partner to repay debts.

Sino-Ocean was trading up 6.7 percent at 48 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) as of 11.45am on Tuesday, after earlier gaining as much as 15.6 percent. China Life Insurance will invest about RMB 3.1 billion to buy a 50 percent stake in the project, while its partner Swire Properties will spend RMB 900 million to purchase a 15 percent stake, Sino-Ocean announced on 7 June. Read more>>

OUE REIT Prices $185M of Green Notes Due 2027

The manager of OUE REIT has priced S$250 million ($184.7 million) of green notes under its S$2 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme.

The notes will bear an interest rate of 4.1 percent per annum and interest on the notes will be payable semi-annually in arrear. The notes will mature on 14 June, 2027. Read more>>

Banyan Tree Debuts in Japan With First Property in Kyoto

Banyan Group has announced the opening of Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto in the third quarter of 2024, marking the debut of the Banyan Tree brand in Japan.

Located in Kyoto’s historic Higashiyama ward, the hotel features 52 guestrooms, a spa and restaurants. Read more>>

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