Frasers Property Secures $670M Green Loan and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Sustainability is helping Singapore’s Frasers Property to access some fresh cash with news of the developer landing a $670 million green credit facility leading today’s headline roundup. Ping An Bank also makes the news with plans to shift Shanghai staff to Shenzhen and a developer in Hong Kong explores deep price cuts to woo buyers.

Frasers Property Secures $670M Green Loan

Frasers Property has secured a dual-tranche, sustainability-linked loan aggregating S$904 million ($670 million). The group said on Tuesday that proceeds from the facility, which has a tenure of five years, will be used to refinance existing loans and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

With the addition of the facility, Frasers said it has obtained more than S$13 billion of green or sustainability-linked loans and bonds. Read more>>

Ping An Bank Moves Shanghai Staff to Shenzhen to Cut Costs

Ping An Bank is relocating more than 100 staff based in Shanghai to its Shenzhen home base to cut costs as China’s banking industry struggles with profitability.

The lender last week notified all its retail business and information technology staff who currently report to its headquarters that they need to move to the bank’s hometown due to cost control and profitability considerations, according to people familiar with the matter. Read more>>

Hong Kong Developer Prices Tuen Mun Project at 2016 Level

A Hong Kong developer has priced a new project in the New Territories at an eight-year low, as companies press on with their low-price strategy to entice buyers amid a slump in market sentiment and a slowdown in transactions.

Early Light International, which is controlled by billionaire “toy king” Francis Choi, on Monday released the price list of the first 139 units of Gold Coast Bay The Uppland in Tuen Mun at an average of HK$9,988 ($1,280) per square foot. Read more>>

Singapore’s Ascott Announces Chelsea Sponsorship Deal

CapitaLand subsidiary Ascott Ltd on Monday announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Chelsea.

For the next four seasons, the hospitality firm will be Chelsea’s official global hotels partner. As part of the deal, Ascott will take over management of the two stadium hotels at Chelsea’s London home ground from the second half of this year. Read more>>

NWD to Explore Opportunities in Thailand

Hong Kong’s New World Development has shown interest in exploring investments in Thailand projects, including digital finance, biotechnology and the THB 1 trillion ($27.4 billion) land bridge megaproject.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met Adrian Cheng, NWD’s executive vice-chairman and CEO, at Government House on Monday to discuss potential investment opportunities. Read more>>

Japan’s $1.5T Pension Whale to Trigger Waves in Stocks, Currencies

Japan would love to strengthen the yen, with the currency’s value at a nearly 38-year low. And it owns one of the world’s biggest dollar stashes.

Many analysts say Tokyo is getting ready to redirect some of those government-controlled dollars back into yen assets, a decision that could ripple through global financial markets, given the sums involved. Read more>>

HSBC Chairman on the Hunt for His Fourth CEO

The clock strikes 5am in New York and the calls and emails start dribbling in to managers across HSBC’s sprawling businesses.

A junior corporate finance employee receives a missive thanking him for his digest of the advisory mandates the bank was pitching on. A high-level executive is asked to produce a detailed breakdown on staff attrition data within a division of the institution. Read more>>

Tata Realty Raises $98.8M to Refinance Green IT Park Project in Chennai

Tata Realty on Monday said it has secured INR 8.25 billion ($98.8 million) loan from the International Finance Corporation to refinance its green commercial project in Chennai. “This funding is earmarked for the strategic refinancing of Ramanujan Intellion Park in Chennai, a landmark development in sustainable real estate,” the company said.

Ramanujan Intellion Park has achieved a complete reduction of emissions through renewables or carbon offsets, saving more than 20 percent on water and embodied energy in materials while attaining over 42 percent energy savings on-site, according to Tata Realty. Read more>>