ARA Korea Asset Management acquired Seoul Square in 2019
Fund manager ARA takes bids for an office tower in central Seoul, with that report leading today’s headline roundup. Also making the list, the Ritz-Carlton brand returns to South Korea after a long absence and Tokyo’s new condo supply drops to a record low.
ARA Korea Marketing Seoul Square Office Tower for $704M
ARA Korea Asset Management is pursuing the sale of Seoul Square, a prime-grade office building located in the capital’s Jung district and valued at around KRW 1 trillion ($703.7 million).
According to investment banking sources, ARA Korea is preparing to sell Seoul Square and has sent requests for proposals to real estate advisory firms. The Singapore-based company plans to select a sale manager soon and begin the formal process. Read more>>
IGIS Taps Ritz-Carlton for Landmark Seoul Project
IGIS Asset Management has named Ritz-Carlton as the preferred hotel brand for its mixed-use development project on the site of the former Millennium Hilton Seoul, marking the ultra-luxury chain’s return to South Korea after a 15-year absence.
The announcement on Monday confirms that Marriott International’s top-tier luxury brand will anchor the hospitality component of the Iota Seoul project opposite Seoul Station. Read more>>
Tokyo New Condo Supply Drops to Record Low on Construction Challenges
The number of newly built condominiums in the Tokyo metropolitan area sank 17 percent in fiscal 2024 compared with the previous year, with smaller developers struggling to secure profits amid rising construction costs and difficulty acquiring land.
A total of 22,239 new condos went on the market in the region, which consists of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Monday. The number was the lowest since the institute began collecting data in fiscal 1973, it said. Read more>>
ESR REIT Income Rises 31% on Acquisitions, Asset Enhancements
The manager of Singapore-listed ESR-REIT on Tuesday posted a 31.3 percent year-on-year rise in net property income for the first quarter to S$82.5 million ($63.2 million).
Q1 revenue climbed 24.2 percent year-on-year to S$110.5 million. The growth in NPI and revenue was attributed mainly to contributions from two properties the trust acquired last November: ESR Yatomi Kisosaki Distribution Centre in Japan and 20 Tuas South Avenue 14 in Singapore. Read more>>
Keppel Infrastructure Trust Achieves 28% Jump in Distributable Income
Singapore-listed Keppel Infrastructure Trust on Tuesday reported a 27.7 percent year-on-year jump in distributable income to S$65 million ($49.8 million).
The result was driven by contributions from new acquisitions and capital recycling exercises, notably the proposed $90.6 million investment in subsea cable solutions provider Global Marine Group. The buy is set to establish KIT’s presence in digital infrastructure, based on the company’s Q1 business update. Read more>>
Ex-Evergrande CEO Says Disclosing Assets Would Risk Exposure to Mainland Authorities
Xia Haijun, the former CEO of China Evergrande, told a Hong Kong court that complying with an order to disclose his assets could place him in “extreme danger”.
Judge Russell Coleman ruled last month that Xia must comply with the disclosure obligations by 4pm on 28 March, or be debarred from filing a defence in the case. During Thursday’s hearing, Xia’s lawyer argued that disclosing his assets to liquidators could lead to the information being leaked to Chinese regulators. Liquidators said there is no evidence to support this argument, calling it a “conspiracy theory”. Read more>>
L’Oreal Laying Off Half of China Duty-Free Staff
L’Oreal is planning to lay off up to half its travel retail workforce in China, as the French cosmetics giant grapples with prolonged weakness in duty-free sales, multiple sources told Caixin.
Although the layoffs have not been officially announced, they are expected to affect up to half the team. Some departing employees are reportedly set to receive “n+5” compensation packages — a payout equal to their years of service plus five months’ salary, according to a source close to L’Oreal’s headquarters. Read more>>
Frasers Centrepoint Trust Preferential Offering Raises $154M
Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint Trust on Monday said its preferential offering was 24.8 percent oversubscribed.
The manager received applications for 122,584,803 preferential offering units, against the 98,185,673 units offered. The offering was launched earlier this month at S$2.05 per unit. The issue price represented a 7.4 percent discount to the volume-weighted average price of S$2.2136. The offering was made on the basis of 54 units for every 1,000 existing units held as of 5pm on 3 April, to raise gross proceeds of S$201.3 million ($154.1 million). Read more>>
Macquarie Sells US, European Public Asset Management Units to Nomura for $1.8B
Japanese investment bank Nomura will acquire Macquarie Group’s public asset management operations in the US and Europe for A$2.8 billion ($1.8 billion), the companies said Tuesday.
The deal marks the latest major overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm as companies facing a shrinking domestic market seek out growth opportunities abroad. Asset management has become a core growth area for Japanese financial institutions looking to secure stable fee-based revenue that is less impacted by the ups and downs of market sentiment. Read more>>
SGX-Listed Parkway Life REIT Sees Distributions Rise 1.3%
Healthcare trust Parkway Life REIT recorded a first-quarter distribution per unit of S$0.0384, up 1.3 percent from year-earlier DPU.
The result arose from an enlarged unit base after an equity fundraising exercise to acquire the REIT’s portfolio in France, the trust’s manager said Tuesday in a business update. Revenue for the quarter climbed 7.3 percent year-on-year to S$39 million ($29.8 million). Read more>>
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