GLP, Mitsui to Spend $3.5B on Japan Cold Logistics and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Some of Japan’s biggest developers are set to splash out on chilly sheds in the coming years, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also on the list, a Korean finance giant sets up a fund to help distressed property projects and embattled PwC halts work on a training campus in China.

GLP, Mitsui Fudosan to Invest $3.5B in Japan Cold Chain by 2030

GLP Japan, Mitsui Fudosan and other local companies are planning to invest more than JPY 500 billion ($3.5 billion) in cold storage facilities by 2030, Nikkei reported Tuesday.

Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s biggest property group, is looking to invest JPY 100 billion, primarily in Greater Tokyo, whereas developer peers like Tokyo Fudosan and Mitsubishi Estate will also be penetrating the market, the report said. Read more>>

South Korea’s Woori Sets Up $75M Fund for Distressed Property Projects

Woori Financial Group, one of South Korea’s top five financial conglomerates, on Wednesday announced the creation of a KRW 100 billion ($75 million) fund to provide liquidity to the struggling real estate project financing sector.

The fund was raised through contributions from the group’s subsidiaries, with flagship Woori Bank contributing the bulk at KRW 90 billion. Woori Asset Management, Woori Financial Capital and Woori Investment & Securities contributed a respective KRW 5 billion, KRW 3 billion and KRW 2 billion, with Woori Asset Management serving as the general partner managing the fund’s operations. Read more>>

PwC Halts Work on Hainan Campus After China Penalty

PwC has halted construction of a lavish Hainan campus that it planned to use as a training institute for “building trust in leadership”, amid mounting fallout from its audits of bankrupt property group China Evergrande.

Work on Reimagine Park at Haitang Bay on China’s tropical island began last year but was stopped in recent weeks, according to one person close to the firm and workers on the site and a neighbouring project. The project is under strategic review, another person briefed on the matter said. Read more>>

HSBC India Provides $36M Green Loan for Ivanhoe Cambridge Science Parks

Neovantage Innovation Parks, which owns and operates life sciences real estate, has raised a INR 3 billion ($36 million) green loan from HSBC India to refinance its existing debt.

Neovantage, a joint venture of Ivanhoe Cambridge and Lighthouse Canton, is located in Genome Valley in Hyderabad. It is home to pharma and life sciences research firms. Read more>>

Vietnam Asks Singapore for Help Chasing Van Thinh Phat Loot

Vietnam’s largest fraud case, involving property tycoon Truong My Lan, allegations of laundering trillions of dong and the illegal transfer of billions in US dollars across borders for over a decade, enters its second trial this week, with more Singapore-based companies now implicated.

A police investigation report reviewed by the Business Times reveals the involvement of additional lesser-known Singapore-incorporated entities in the high-profile case embroiling Lan’s real estate empire, Van Thinh Phat Group, private lender Saigon Commercial Bank and other related organisations. Read more>>

Trump Organization Said Eyeing Vietnam Golf Project

The Trump Organization, an American conglomerate owned by Donald Trump, aims to invest in building a hotel, golf course and recreational complex in Vietnam’s northern province of Hung Yen. A delegation of the US business made the suggestion at a Monday meeting with provincial authorities.

Urging Hung Yen province to support the initiative, the Trump Organization highlighted its strengths in those sectors. The business’s contribution to Hung Yen growth can boost the Vietnam-US comprehensive strategic partnership, it added. Read more>>

Hong Kong Regulators Probing PwC After Mainland Penalty

The focus of a lengthy probe into PWC’s China business now shifts to Hong Kong after the accounting firm was hit with a record fine in the mainland over its audit of failed developer China Evergrande.

Hong Kong’s Accounting and Financial Reporting Council said its review of PwC’s local practice, which is separate from China’s probe, is still “in progress,” according to a statement Friday. An AFRC spokesperson said the watchdog had no further comment. Read more>>

China Home Price Slide Spreads to Southern Provinces

Chinese homebuyers on a tight budget have long sought out Hegang, a former coal boomtown on the Russian border. Now, as China’s property crisis spreads, Hegang’s basement prices are showing up in wealthier regions in a new threat to the economy.

Average prices of new homes in 70 major cities including Beijing slumped for the 14th month in August despite dramatic reversals in China’s once-restrictive purchase policies. Even prices in the economically vibrant south have sunk, stoking intense social media discussions on widening property deflation, with hashtags “Hegang-isation” and “HegangHomePrices” chalking up tens of millions of views. Read more>>

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