Bruno Lopez, president and group CEO of STT GDC
Cash for data centres leads today’s look at real estate headlines from around the region as KKR and Singtel line up financing for a buyout of a Singapore server shed operator. Also making the list are Malaysia’s biggest industrial deal of the year and Straits Real Estate selling a stake in some Aussie warehouses to ASX-listed Cromwell.
KKR, Singtel Said in Talks to Borrow $3.8B for STT GDC Buyout
A consortium comprising KKR and Singapore Telecommunications is in talks with banks for a loan of around S$5 billion ($3.8 billion) to support its proposed purchase of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal may be structured as a bridge facility — equally split into a term loan and revolving credit tranche — and clubbed between a group of banks, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. A subsequent takeout financing could follow, they said, adding that discussions are ongoing and details remain subject to change. Read more>>
Malaysia’s Axis REIT Buys Penang Industrial Site for $192M
Marking the largest industrial property transaction in Malaysia this year, Axis REIT has acquired 55 hectares (136 acres) of industrial land on the Penang mainland from Ann Joo Steel for MYR 800 million ($192.3 million).
Located in Seberang Perai Tengah, the freehold plot and industrial facility will be leased back to Ann Joo post-acquisition for a fixed term of eight years at MYR 4.16 million per month, as disclosed in Axis REIT’s filing with Bursa Malaysia last Thursday. Read more>>
Cromwell Buys Stake in Straits Aussie Industrial Portfolio for $31M
ASX-listed Cromwell Property Group said Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase a 19.9 percent stake in an Australian industrial portfolio owned by Singapore’s Straits Real Estate for A$47.6 million ($31 million).
The portfolio includes seven industrial properties across logistics hubs in Victoria and South Australia that are leased to tenants including Coca-Cola, Incitec Pivot Fertilisers and fertiliser maker Wengfu. Cromwell will also acquire the portfolio’s management platform as part of the deal. Read more>>
Singapore Worker Housing Operator TS Group Considering $384M Stake Sale
Shareholders of TS Group, a Singapore-based provider of purpose-built foreign worker dormitories, are considering selling a controlling stake in the business in a deal that could be worth at least S$500 million ($384 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Dymon Asia Private Equity and TS Group co-founders Shamkumar Subramani and Tome Oh are working with a financial advisor on the potential divestment, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Subramani and Oh may reach out to prospective bidders such as private equity firms and other industry players soon, the people said. Read more>>
McDonald’s Sells Two More Hong Kong Shops for $23.5M
Two McDonald’s shops in Hong Kong have been sold to the same buyer for HK$183 million ($23.5 million), marking the fast-food chain’s second and third sales this month as it proceeds with an asset-disposal plan amid an improving commercial property market.
A 7,357 square foot (683 square metre) property in Mong Kok’s Good Hope Building was handed over to Verity Partners for HK$83.2 million, or HK$11,293 per square foot, on Friday, according to data from the Land Registry. Read more>>
Singapore’s Boustead Wins Design and Build Deal for Chip Facility
Boustead announced that its engineering and construction business has won a design-and-build contract comprising additions and alterations works to reconfigure an existing semiconductor material manufacturing plant.
The announcement to the bourse last Friday by the infrastructure-related engineering and technology group said that the engineering and construction business under Boustead Projects — its real estate solutions division — secured the order. Read more>>
Credit Agricole Renews Lease at Swire’s Pacific Place in Hong Kong
Credit Agricole CIB has renewed its lease for 85,000 square feet (7,897 square metres) of prime office space at Pacific Place in Admiralty, extending its tenancy until 2034, according to landlord Swire Properties.
The renewal would continue a partnership spanning more than two decades, Swire Properties, one of Hong Kong’s largest commercial landlords, said Monday. The premises — four floors at Two Pacific Place — serve as the French banking giant’s Asia Pacific headquarters. Read more>>
How Descendants of Hong Kong Money Lenders Borrowed More Than They Could Pay
A property company sprung from wealth originally generated from gold shops, New World Development has become one of its most visible casualties. After years of easy credit and unabated expansion, the property giant — once among the most deep-pocketed in the city — is facing a financial reckoning.
The first major hint of the company’s troubles emerged in 2024, when the developer reported its first loss in two decades. By mid-2025 its problems had deepened: net debt had reached about 98 percent of shareholder equity, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, making it one of the most leveraged major developers in Hong Kong. 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.
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