Mainland Magnate Buys Stake in Faltering Star Casinos and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

A Chinese coal tycoon is revealed to be an investor in troubled Australian casino firm Star Entertainment, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, Singapore’s CDL makes a buyout offer for its listed New Zealand hotel unit and China’s Country Garden wins an extension at a winding-up hearing.

Mainland Coal Magnate Buys Stake in Aussie Casino Operator Star

A glittering residential tower in the heart of Macau’s upmarket central district is the part-time home of the man who increasingly seems to be Star Entertainment’s elusive new investor and made his fortune importing Mongolian coal into China.

An afternoon spent visiting four Macau addresses linked to Xingchun Wang and a dive into Hong Kong’s company disclosures reveal that Wang’s signature, used to establish Winsway Coking Coal in 2010, closely resembles the signature used on ASX shareholder filings recording the Star stake as a matter of public record on 13 and 14 January. Read more>>

Singapore’s CDL Makes $32M Offer to Buy Out NZ Hotel Unit

A wholly owned subsidiary of City Developments Ltd plans to buy all the fully paid ordinary shares in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand that it does not already own at NZ$2.25 a share.

The maximum aggregate cash consideration payable by CDL Hotels Holdings New Zealand is NZ$57.3 million ($32.2 million). CDL said Monday that the offer is being made with a view to delist and privatise MCK, which will “simplify the ownership structure” of CDL’s investment entities in the country. Read more>>

Country Garden Wins Reprieve Until May in Hong Kong Wind-Up Case

A Hong Kong court adjourned a liquidation petition hearing against indebted Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings on Monday after the company unveiled a restructuring proposal earlier this month.

Justice Linda Chan adjourned the case until May 26 after hearing a petition from Ever Credit, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Kingboard Holdings, which makes laminates and chemicals. Read more>>

United Hampshire US REIT Sells US Supermarket for $24M

United Hampshire US REIT, through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary UH US Albany 2019, has sold a supermarket property in the US state of New York for $23.8 million.

The net proceeds of $23.2 million from the divestment is 10.2 percent, or $2.6 million, lower than the book value of the property, which stood at $25.8 million as of last June. Read more>>

Vanke Said to Have Prepared Cash for RMB Bond Payment

Developer China Vanke, which has a record amount of debt coming due, told some creditors before the turbulence in the company’s bonds and shares on Friday that it had prepared enough cash to repay a 2.95 percent onshore bond due on 27 January, said people familiar with the matter.

The bond has RMB 3 billion ($409 million) outstanding, according to Bloomberg-compiled data, and last traded at RMB 98.4 on Wednesday, indicating investors’ confidence that payment will be made. That’s in contrast to Vanke’s 3.45 percent RMB bond due in May, which was at RMB 73 on Friday. Read more>>

Bain Brass, Hana Leadership Vow to Collaborate in Korea and Globally

Hana Financial Group chairman Ham Young-joo and top executives of private equity major Bain Capital recently met in Seoul to discuss expanding bilateral collaboration.

Bain’s delegation included co-managing partners John Connaughton and David Gross, as well as partner Lee Jung-woo. The discussions revolved around strengthening communication to facilitate increased investment in the Korean market, according to Hana Financial officials Sunday. Read more>>

CDL-Frasers-Sekisui JV Sells 86% of Available Homes on Launch Day

Singapore residential development The Orie kickstarted 2025’s new launches by selling 668 units — 86 percent of the 777 available — at its launch weekend. Units were sold at an average price of S$2,704 ($1,982) per square foot.

About 93 percent of the buyers were Singaporeans, developers City Developments Ltd, Frasers Property and Sekisui House said Sunday. Read more>>

Bank of Japan Expected to Raise Rates on Friday

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will size up the need to raise interest rates on Friday amid heightened expectations of a hike — and barring a market shock triggered by Donald Trump’s first few days in the White House.

While the rest of the central banking world has been focusing on the pace of cuts, especially those at the Federal Reserve, Ueda and his board are still heading in the other direction as they look to gradually pull Japan back in the direction of conventional policy settings. Read more>>

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