ARA Korea Asset Management acquired Seoul Square in 2019
Separate discussions for the sale of a pair of Seoul office towers lead today’s look at real estate news from around the region, as South Korea continues to be one of Asia’s most active markets. HSBC also makes the list as it pressures its Hang Seng Bank unit to offload property loans that have gone sour.
ESR’s ARA Unit Closes In on Deal to Sell Seoul Square for $932M
Korea Investment Real Asset Management has been named the preferred bidder for Seoul Square, one of South Korea’s blockbuster real estate deals of this half, after its KRW 1.3 trillion ($932 million) offer, according to sources in the investment banking industry on Wednesday.
It beat Capstone Asset Management in a two-way race, which initially attracted only the two bidders due to its high price. The tower is jointly owned by Singapore’s ARA Asset Management and Korea’s NH Investment & Securities, which bought it in 2019 for KRW 988.2 billion. Read more>>
Korea’s JR AMC in Talks to Buy Seoul Office Tower
After multiple failed sale attempts, Eulji Finance Center, which barely broke ground this month, will be jointly acquired by JR Asset Management and the developer IB Networks.
According to investment banking sources, JR Asset Management signed a memorandum of understanding with IB Networks for business cooperation on the Eulji Finance Center project. Going forward, JR Asset Management is expected to acquire Eulji Finance Center through a real estate fund, while IB Networks will invest in common shares. Read more>>
HSBC Asks Hang Seng Bank to Clean Up Bad Hong Kong Property Debt
HSBC Holdings has taken the unusual step of getting directly involved in pushing its Hong Kong subsidiary, Hang Seng Bank, to offload portfolios of bad real estate debt, underscoring the growing concerns over the city’s struggling property sector.
About two months ago, the lender directed its London-based global chief corporate credit officer and the head of its special credit unit to ensure that Hang Seng started a process of selling portfolios, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. Read more>>
Centurion Singapore REIT IPO 17X Oversubscribed
The manager of Centurion Accommodation REIT said Wednesday that the 262.2 million units on offer were 16.6 times subscribed.
This was based on indications of interest and valid applications, the manager said, but not applications by connected persons or those mentioned in Rule 240 of the Singapore Exchange’s listing manual. Read more>>
Korea’s KIC to Commit Up to $200M to Local PE Strategies
The Korea Investment Corporation is expected to commit between $100 million and $200 million to two to three Korean private equity firms in its first allocation to homegrown PE houses in KIC’s two-decade history, according to investment banking sources on Tuesday.
The sovereign wealth fund is likely to award the mandates to private equity firms that focus on financing cross-border M&As involving South Korean companies as strategic investors, according to people familiar with the matter. Read more>>
Lendlease Fights Off Mutiny Over Management of Aussie Property Fund
Property company Lendlease has squashed a rebellion against its management of a key fund in the A$10 billion ($6.6 billion) Australian Prime Property Fund empire as too few investors showed up to a meeting called to turf it out from running the industrial vehicle.
The incumbent manager has effectively won a fight for control of the A$2 billion industrial fund, seeing off a challenge that would have installed rival company Mirvac to run it. But it did so by the narrowest of margins, as only nine of 14 investors showed up to the meeting when 10 were required to be present for a vote to be held. Read more>>
Tokyo Used Condo Prices Rise as Development Pipeline Ebbs
A survey shows that prices of used condominiums in central Tokyo continue to rise amid falling supplies of newly built units. The average topped JPY 100 million, or about $680,000, for the fourth straight month.
Real estate research firm Tokyo Kantei says the average price in August was about JPY 107 million, based on a notional 70 square metre (753 square foot) unit. That’s up just over 38 percent from the year before. The company says rising land prices are another factor pushing up the value of used condos. Read more>>
Advisor to China’s PBOC Calls for More Housing Market Support
China should support the property sector through fiscal measures, according to a group of academics led by an advisor to the country’s central bank who urged Beijing to assist a traditional growth driver while fostering new industries.
The argument, laid out in an article published late Tuesday in Chinese magazine International Economic Review, envisions a framework for steadying growth by coordinating industry policies with macroeconomic measures. Read more>>
Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on X, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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