Oaktree Capital Management co-chairman Howard Marks
Troubled Aussie casino group Star Entertainment gets a financing offer from distressed debt specialist Oaktree, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also making the list, Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands bags a $9 billion loan for expansion and hope fades for Hong Kong’s struggling developers.
Australia’s Star Considering $413M Oaktree Financing Offer
Teetering casino giant Star Entertainment is considering a A$650 million ($413 million) financial lifeline from a hard-nosed lender whose bailout deal with another big-name Queensland company ended in tears for shareholders.
ASX-listed Star runs casinos in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney and has warned of the risk of collapse due to financial struggles. Read more>>
Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Gets $9B Loan
Marina Bay Sands has obtained a S$12 billion ($9 billion) multi-tranche loan to fund a planned expansion of its casino resort in Singapore, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking the largest such financing in the city-state ever.
DBS, Maybank, OCBC and UOB were the coordinating banks on the credit facility, which attracted 22 other lenders when it was syndicated to the broader market, the person said, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. Read more>>
Hong Kong Developers Set to Struggle as Rate Outlook Dims
Hong Kong developers will continue to price their swollen inventory of new flats at discount prices to attract buyers in 2025 as hopes of lower interest rates fade and concerns grow about a liquidity crunch among builders.
Hong Kong’s benchmark interest rate, which has moved in lockstep with US monetary policy since 1983, is likely to remain higher for longer, amid rising US inflation and US President Donald Trump’s expected spate of tariffs and protectionist policies. Read more>>
Eldest Son Takes Over After Passing of K Wah Patriarch in Hong Kong
The Lui family, one of Asia’s richest, has taken a step closer to working out succession for their roughly $12 billion casino empire after the death of patriarch Lui Che Woo in November.
Francis Lui, 69, eldest son of the late Hong Kong tycoon, gained control of $1.6 billion in shares that were previously held by his father and family foundations, according to exchange filings on Thursday. He is also chairman of the key family holding entity K Wah Group. Read more>>
Vietnam Studies Property Deal Taxes as Housing Market Rebounds
In its latest draft proposal submitted to the government for a new personal income tax law, Vietnam’s finance ministry has supported studying a tax rate structure for real estate transfer income based on how long a property is held.
Vietnam’s personal income tax policy currently doesn’t differentiate based on how long a property has been held before being sold. In contrast, several countries have adopted tax measures to discourage so-called “flipping” of property, increase costs for such speculative activities and reduce their appeal. Read more>>
Australia’s Dexus Swings to a Profit as Office Market Rebounds
Heavyweight landlord and fund manager Dexus is bullish about the prospects of city office markets as interest rates head downwards and workers get back to their desks.
The Australian trust, which is also pushing deeper into infrastructure markets, flagged that demand for space was picking up, though parts of the Melbourne market are still suffering. Dexus CEO Ross Du Vernet called out the importance of interest rate cuts in boosting confidence among investors. Read more>>
Sydney-Based GPT Calls an End to Aussie Office Slump
Office towers are coming out of the doldrums and are poised to join shopping centres in the recovery taking hold across Australia’s commercial property sector, according to GPT Group.
Despite the group turning in a full-year loss of A$200.7 million ($127.5 million) after it was hit with hefty property write-downs of A$770.7 million, it believes that the worst has passed and there are signs of recovery. Read more>>
Cash-Strapped Chinese Cities Slow to Buy Back Land From Developers
Local governments in mainland China are speeding up their purchases of idle land from developers, but more cities need to take part to expand the scale of the initiative and rescue the property market from its five-year slowdown, according to analysts.
Several cities in China’s southern Guangdong province last week unveiled plans to buy idle land totalling more than RMB 35 billion ($4.8 billion) from developers via special bond issuances — the first such move since authorities announced the scheme to address the residential land glut in October. Read more>>
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