Country Garden Set to Avoid RMB Bond Default and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Country Garden is likely to avoid its first default on RMB notes after the majority of bondholders agreed to defer payment, with that story leading Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today. Also in the news, Li Ning goes into damage-control mode as shareholders question the sportswear firm’s purchase of a Hong Kong office building and WeWork wins landlord support for its bankruptcy deal.

Country Garden Wins Creditor Approval to Extend RMB Bond

Country Garden Holdings, the Chinese builder whose liquidity crunch shook the nation’s financial markets, is likely to avoid its first default on RMB bonds after most holders of a local note agreed not to demand repayment this week, people familiar with the matter said.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange met last week with some holders of the RMB 800 million ($111.5 million) security to seek such an outcome. The bond has a put option for 13 December that allows investors to demand repayment before maturity next year. But most investors were swayed to forgo using that option, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Read more>>

Li Ning Pledges Share Buyback After Investors Pan HK Office Buy

Li Ning Co has proposed to spend as much as HK$3 billion ($384 million) to repurchase shares in a move seen to shore up sentiment after the Chinese sportswear maker tumbled Monday as investors disapproved of its use of capital to buy property.

Li Ning’s current share price is below its intrinsic actual value and the board has full confidence in its business prospects and long-term growth, the company said in a filing. The group will buy back shares on the open market over the next six months and will fund the plan from existing resources. Its HK-listed shares gained as much as 4.7 percent on Tuesday. Read more>>

WeWork Resolves Landlord Objections to Bankruptcy Financing

WeWork has resolved landlords’ objections to its bankruptcy financing agreement, saying on Monday that it had agreed to reserve a portion of any future loans in an account that will be used for rent payments.

US bankruptcy judge John Sherwood, who is overseeing the SoftBank-backed company’s Chapter 11 proceedings, approved the compromise during a court hearing in New Jersey. The deal allows SoftBank to redirect up to $682.5 million into new credit facilities used to backstop the shared office space provider’s rent obligations. Read more>>

Mapletree Logistics Trust to Acquire India Warehouse for $11M

Mapletree Logistics Trust is proposing to acquire a Grade A warehouse at Farukhnagar, within the Delhi National Capital Region of India, for INR 900 million ($10.7 million).

This represents a 2.4 percent discount to the asset’s independent valuation of INR 922 million as of 31 October. Read more>>

Country Garden Directors Agree to Slash Salaries

On Tuesday, Country Garden Holdings announced that the company’s executive directors Yang Huiyan, Mo Bin and Yang Ziying and non-executive director Chen Chong had requested that their remuneration be reduced as the company struggles to pay its debts.

Among them, chairwoman Yang Hui-yan’s annual salary was lowered from RMB 370,000 ($51,499) annually to RMB 120,000, and chief executive Mo Bin’s salary was reduced from RMB 3 million to RMB 120,000. Read more>>

RIL, Brookfield, Digital Realty India Data Centre JV Renamed Digital Connexion

Reliance Industries, Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty have completed a deal signed in July for Reliance to join the data centre partnership, an official statement said Tuesday.

The three companies entered into an agreement in July 2023 to invest in their existing special purpose vehicle Digital Connexion for developing data centres in India. Read more>>

MUFG’s AlbaCore Sees Potential for Alternative Investments in Japan

AlbaCore Capital, a London-based private credit firm acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, sees growth potential in Japan for alternative investments that are still underweight in Japanese institutional investors’ portfolios.

“Japan has historically had a very small allocation to alternatives,” AlbaCore chief investment officer David Allen said, referring to nontraditional assets such as private debt, private equity and real estate. “There probably could be continued growth in this market.” Read more>>

Cognizant Set to Sell Office Campuses in Hyderabad, Chennai

Cognizant Technologies is set to sell its office campuses in Hyderabad and Chennai, marking a strategic move to become asset-light and capitalise on non-core real estate, according to a report by the Economic Times.

In addition to selling assets, Cognizant has renegotiated leases and downsized assets in some locations. The company has already vacated 1.15 million square feet (106,839 square metres) of office space in Chennai, including 500,000 square feet in the DLF Cybercity SEZ and 650,000 square feet in the Ramanujan IT SEZ. It is also renegotiating a lease in Hyderabad from 1.5 million square feet to 1 million square feet for an upcoming property. 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.