Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman clinches the deal of the year in data centres (Getty Images)
Blackstone signs on the dotted line to win control of Australian data centre giant AirTrunk, with that $15.8 billion deal leading Mingtiandi’s headline roundup. Also on today’s list, Japan’s Keihanshin Building invests $10 million in a Miami apartment project and a mixed-use complex in Singapore’s Orchard area goes up for sale.
Blackstone Signs $15.8B Deal to Buy AirTrunk Data Centres
AirTrunk founder Robin Khuda, Macquarie Asset Management and PSP Investments on Tuesday signed final deal documents to sell the company to Blackstone for close to A$23.5 billion ($15.8 billion) at law firm Baker McKenzie’s offices in Sydney’s Barangaroo.
The $1 trillion-plus private capital juggernaut emerged as the winning bidder for the data centre group, defeating a consortium led by IFM Investors. After earlier reports indicated that a decision would be announced Wednesday, the winner had not been picked until early Tuesday afternoon, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Read more>>
Japan’s Keihanshin Building Investing $10M to Develop First US Project
Tokyo-listed Keihanshin Building announced Friday that it has agreed to invest $10 million to develop a 420-unit multi-family project in Miami.
The company is working with Boston-based CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a partner of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, to establish the 44,523 square metre (479,242 square foot) project, which is expected to be completed in 2026. Read more>>
Concorde Hotel and Shopping Centre on the Market for $626M in Singapore
The Concorde Hotel and Shopping Centre, an Orchard Road property majority-owned by Ong Beng Seng’s Hotel Properties Ltd, has gone on the market at a guide price of S$820 million ($626.6 million).
The mixed-use development sits on a 99,623 square foot (9,255 square metre) site at 100 Orchard Road, zoned for hotel use, with height control of up to 10 storeys. The property currently comprises a three-storey retail podium and a 407-room hotel. Read more>>
Baker Mac Hires Former Morrison Foerster Team to Bolster Singapore M&A Practice
Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, a Singapore-based member of the global law firm, on Monday announced that it has hired a team of attorneys formerly with rival Morrison Foerster, including former MoFo Singapore managing partner Shirin Tang.
With former Morrison Foerster partner Ang Lip Kian also joining, Tang will serve as co-head of Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow’s M&A practice, jointly with Boo Bee Chun. Over the past several years, Tang has led transactions totalling more than $35 billion, according to a company statement. Read more>>
Hong Kong’s Regal REIT, Regal Hotels Marketing Six Hospitality Assets
HKEX-listed Regal REIT and Regal Hotels International plan to sell six Hong Kong hotels whose market valuations amount to HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion), local newspaper Mingpao reported.
Regal REIT and its hotel arm both saw widened deficits in the first half, as losses expanded with increased finance costs and higher fair-value losses on financial assets. Read more>>
Snack Food Maker Buys Office Floors in Kowloon East
The slump in Hong Kong’s commercial property market may be ending, with opportunistic buyers like Four Seas Mercantile Holdings snapping up office space in Kowloon at a discount after prices fell to their lowest level in almost six years.
The snack food maker agreed to buy 25,000 square feet (2,323 square metres) of office units in Kwun Tong for HK$205.4 million ($26.3 million), it said Monday in a stock filing. The deal works out to HK$8,226 per square foot, or 12.5 percent below the asking price in the same building. Read more>>
Hong Kong Luxury Malls Struggle as Chinese Spending Plunges
In Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district, the mock classical 1881 Heritage mall used to lure queues of mainland Chinese tourists eager to shop at boutiques operated by brands like Tiffany, Cartier and Chopard. Now it attracts neither crowds nor brands. Only three of the more than 30 units at the mall owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset Holdings are occupied, and its colonnaded courtyards are quiet.
In nearby Canton Road, a shop previously rented by Swatch Group’s Omega for HK$7.5 million ($960,000) a month is leased to a bank for 80 percent less, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal. Over in Causeway Bay’s Russell Street, a Transformers-themed fast-food restaurant has taken the place of Burberry. Its rent is 89 percent below the HK$8.8 million the British firm was forking out in 2019, the agents said, declining to be identified because the matter is private. Read more>>
Manila’s SM Prime to Expand in Home Market, Hold Steady in China
Top Philippine mall operator SM Prime Holdings is accelerating expansion plans at home and not investing aggressively in its China business where competition is tighter, according to a top official.
The integrated developer established by late billionaire Henry Sy had 86 shopping malls in the Philippines and eight in China at the end of June. SM’s China business is growing organically, “which means we don’t send money to China anymore,” Hans Sy, SM Prime executive committee chairman, told reporters in Manila. Read more>>
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