Alec Harper, head of Australia at Oxford Properties
Canadian investor Oxford Properties gears up for more deals in Australia’s office and living sectors, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also making the list, Blackstone’s AirTrunk seeks a green loan to finance a Singapore data centre project and Prima Asset Management buys a UK student housing site.
Canada’s Oxford Properties Keen on Aussie Office Strategies
For Canadian giant Oxford Properties, best known in Australia for backing the Investa funds platform, the country remains a top bet.
“We’ve put six and a half billion dollars to work since 2018 and my expectation, as we look out for the next five years, I hope that it’s even higher than that,” chief investment officer Chad Remis said. The group is best known for swooping on Investa’s listed office fund in 2018 and taking a stake in the platform two years later. But it has ambitions well beyond offices. Read more>>
AirTrunk Said Seeking $1.7B Loan for Singapore Data Centre
Blackstone-owned data centre firm AirTrunk is seeking a S$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) green loan for a new greenfield project in Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter, as it looks to ramp up its expansion plans regionally.
The proceeds of the latest loan will fund Australia-based AirTrunk’s 80.2-megawatt greenfield data centre campus buildout in Singapore until 31 December 2050, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The construction will be carried out on behalf of one of its key US clients, after which AirTrunk will lease back some of the power allocated via long-term contracts, the people said. Read more>>
Singapore’s Prima Asset Management Buys Oxford Student Housing Site
Singapore’s Prima Asset Management has entered the UK student housing market with the purchase of a development site in Oxford.
Working with student housing operator Real Living and project manager DML Development Managers, Prima plans to deliver a 189-room project worth S$70 million ($52.4 million), according to a statement by the company. The investment is supported by Baksh Capital and Aurum Gravis. Read more>>
Hong Kong Property Sales Rebound in March
Hong Kong’s property sales increased to the highest level in four months in March, according to the latest official data, as a resurgent stock market and a lower tax scheme for homes spurred sentiment.
Sales of new and lived-in homes, shops, office units, car parking spaces and industrial properties jumped 55 percent in March from a month earlier to 6,661 lots, while the transaction value soared 61 percent to HK$45.65 billion ($5.9 billion), according to Land Registry data released Wednesday. Read more>>
New World Sweetens Offer to Banks in Scramble for Cash
New World Development plans to sweeten the terms of two loans it is seeking, using a prized asset that it has already pledged as collateral for another facility, people familiar with the matter said this week.
Under the revised terms for the two loans, which total HK$87.5 billion ($11.2 billion), the Hong Kong developer would offer the Victoria Dockside complex as a second-ranking security to banks, adding it to the roughly 40 other properties already in the collateral pool, the people said. Read more>>
Aussie Land Lease Giant GemLife Tests Investor Appetite for IPO
Over-50s resort living player GemLife reckons it sold more homes last year and has a bigger pipeline than the A$957 million ($607 million) Lifestyle Communities. Now it’s ready to test fund managers’ appetite for an initial public offering.
Street Talk can reveal that GemLife’s owners, Queensland’s Puljich family and Thakral Capital, have mandated JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to tee up introductory meetings with listed equities investors. Longtime adviser Highbury Partnership is acting as financial advisor. Read more>>
Keppel, Hongkong Land Win $850M Green Loan for One Raffles Quay
Singapore office complex One Raffles Quay has obtained a five-year, S$1.13 billion ($850 million) sustainability-linked loan from DBS and three other banks to support its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
DBS is providing S$710 million as the anchor lender and sole sustainability coordinator, the bank said Wednesday. The remaining S$420 million will be contributed jointly by ICBC, Bank of China and OCBC. Read more>>
Australia’s Aware Super Takes Aim at Mid-Market Tenants for BTR Strategy
The next generation of build-to-rent offerings in Australia could come with fewer amenities and cheaper rents to cater for a broader segment of renters, operators and developers say.
Aware Real Estate build-to-rent asset manager Yasmin Booker said offering core amenities rather than all the bells and whistles would help the project stack up. “Yes, I’m very happy to say it can, and Aware would absolutely pursue this model locally,” she said. Read more>>
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