NTT president and CEO Akira Shimada
Japanese giant NTT is said to be preparing to list a data centre REIT on the Singapore Exchange as soon as July, with that report leading today’s headline roundup. In other news, Aussie casino group Star moves closer to a takeover by US-based Bally’s and PAG raises an RMB buyout fund.
Japan’s NTT Could List Singapore Data Centre REIT Next Month
Japan’s NTT Data Group could list its data centre REIT on the Singapore Exchange as early as July, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, in a deal that could raise up to $1 billion.
The company is looking to lodge its IPO prospectus with the Singapore regulator as early as this week or early next week, the sources said Wednesday, and was in the process of engaging cornerstone investors. Read more>>
Star Entertainment Shareholders Approve Bally’s Buyout Bid
Star Entertainment Group’s shareholders on Wednesday approved an A$300 million ($195 million) rescue package that will allow the embattled Australian casino operator to continue operations, according to a company presentation.
The rescue bid is led by US casino firm Bally’s Corp and the Mathieson family, Star’s largest existing shareholder. The proposal, put to shareholders at a Sydney meeting, was approved by more than 98 percent of proxy votes, according to company slides shown at the event, which was live-streamed. Read more>>
PAG Raises $432M for First RMB Buyout Fund
Asia-focused investment firm PAG has raised RMB 3.1 billion ($432 million) at the first close of its inaugural yuan-denominated buyout fund, exceeding its target, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the company looks to deepen investments in China.
The fundraising comes amid a slowdown in China’s dealmaking as economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions deter many Western investors from the world’s second-largest economy. Read more>>
Blackstone Pushes for Lower Taxes for Foreign Investors in Australia
Private equity and property heavyweight Blackstone would like to play a larger role in helping solve Australia’s housing crisis. That is according to Blackstone Real Estate global co-head Kathleen McCarthy, who identified housing, logistics and data centres as the three main growth engines for the company’s A$600 billion ($392 million) property operation.
McCarthy says there are some barriers to ensuring that the global business is able to fully participate and bring its global smarts to the table. She cited the common challenge of the costs of developing housing as inputs have jumped, but offshore groups also face hefty tax burdens, she said. Read more>>
Bank of Korea Warns of Housing, Debt Risks
Persistent housing price gains, particularly in the Seoul metro area, could accelerate debt accumulation in South Korea and pose risks to financial stability, threatening a financial system that generally held up well in the face of prolonged political turmoil and US tariffs.
In a semi-annual report on the financial system Wednesday, the Bank of Korea said the system remained largely stable in the first half of 2025, despite heightened volatility in financial and foreign exchange markets. The period was marked by elevated political uncertainty stemming from a leadership vacuum after former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, as well as ongoing trade tensions with the Trump administration. Read more>>
Hong Kong Home Prices Held Steady in May
Private home prices edged up just 0.03 percent in May from the month before, following a revised 0.5 percent rise in April that ended four months of decline, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed. The prices have dropped 0.9 percent so far this year to their lowest level since 2016.
Home prices in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most unaffordable cities, have tumbled nearly 30 percent from a 2021 peak, hurt by higher mortgage rates, a weak economic outlook and poor demand as many professionals have left the territory. Read more>>
Tokyo Residential Rents Rising at Fastest Pace in 30 Years
Apartment rents in Tokyo are rising at the fastest pace in 30 years in the latest sign for the Bank of Japan that the nation’s inflation trend is spreading deeper through the economy.
Rents in the capital climbed 1.3 percent from a year earlier in April and May for the largest gains since 1994, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. While the growth may seem modest compared with core inflation in the capital of 3.6 percent or soaring rents worldwide, it still suggests that the inflation cycle has finally reached rented property in Japan. That’s after decades of stagnation following the bursting of an asset bubble in the early 1990s. Read more>>
The Waning Ambitions of China’s Sovereign Fund
China’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund spent years as one of the most sought-after investors in the world. It owned massive stakes in Blackstone and Morgan Stanley, struck deals with Goldman Sachs and plowed tens of billions of dollars into funds across Wall Street.
Today, China Investment Corp is in retreat from the world’s largest economy, caught in the crosshairs as tensions with the US throw up investment roadblocks and Beijing seeks to lower risk by reining in the massive fund. CIC is reducing its exposure to US private assets and had explored a sale of some fund stakes held with US private equity managers before pulling it, Bloomberg News reported this week. Read more>>
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