Dalian Wanda is soon to sell its insurance company Aeon Life (Image: Getty Images)
Just over a month after closing on a deal to sell his mall management business, China’s one-time richest man leads Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today with a report that his Dalian Wanda Group will sell its insurance business to a state-backed investor from his home town. Also in the news, Chinese developer Gemdale seeks a buyer for a San Francisco office tower and Frasers Property is in talks to sell a serviced apartment complex.
Wanda Selling Aeon Insurance Unit to State-Owned Hometown Investor
A state-owned financial investment company in Dalian will become the new controlling shareholder of Aeon Life, an insurance company owned by Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda Group.
Dalian State-Owned Financial Capital Operation will purchase 110 million new shares of Aeon for RMB 110 million ($15.2 million), as well as receive 800 Aeon shares from Wanda’s unit Dalian Rongda Investment for free, thus raising its stake in the Dalian-based insurance firm to 11.5 percent, the National Financial Regulatory Administration announced on Wednesday. Read more>>
Gemdale Marketing San Francisco Office Tower at a Loss
In recent years, San Francisco’s office market has been in a state of free fall, with demand, property values and morale seemingly plummeting in tandem.
Buildings that were once magnets for global investment are trading at half or less of their pre-pandemic values. Millions of square feet of office space — once expensive and hard to come by in the downtown core — has become somewhat obsolete as a result of remote work, leaving the city’s skyscrapers sitting largely empty. Read more>>
Blackstone’s India Retail REIT Reaches Record Occupancy
Blackstone-backed Nexus Select Trust, India’s first listed retail REIT, has leased over 1.1 million square feet (102,193 square metres) retail space achieving its highest-ever occupancy of 97.6 percent in the financial year 2023-24.
The REIT has leased 260,000 square feet across 181 deals during the quarter ended March. As reported earlier, Nexus Select is aiming to conclude acquisition of three Grade-A malls in Hyderabad for INR 10 billion ($119.7 million) soon as the REIT is awaiting approvals from the authorities. Read more>>
Chinese Developers Shimao, Aoyuan Get Stock Boost as Cities Drop Curbs
Shares in Chinese developers jumped Friday, led by Shimao Group, as the market expects more government stimulus for the property market after several big cities removed purchasing curbs over the past week.
Shimao soared as much as 93 percent on Friday before closing up 60 percent at HK$0.36 ($0.046), extending its rise to 75 percent for the week — the biggest five-trading-day jump since trading in the debt-laden developer resumed on 31 July. Read more>>
Singapore’s GIC Boosting Bets on Latin American Infrastructure
Singapore’s GIC Pte, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, is making an outsized bet on Latin American infrastructure, while targeting smaller technology companies in the region.
The fund is “overweight” on the sector — which comprises power generation and transmission, telecommunications and transportation — relative to other segments in Latin America. About 12 percent of its global investments in infrastructure are allocated to the region, according to Chief Executive Officer Lim Chow Kiat. The focus is on Brazil and Mexico, the largest markets, with some smaller investments in the Andean region. Read more>>
Soilbuild Expands Industrial Ventures into Vietnam
Singapore-listed developer Soilbuild Group has broadened its investment in industrial real estate to Vietnam through its Soilbuild International division. The official launch of Soilbuild International (Vietnam) took place in Hanoi on Wednesday.
The launch of Soilbuild International in Vietnam represents a major milestone for Soilbuild as it seeks to leverage on its deep experience in the industrial segment to fulfil the real estate needs of the industrialists in the local market. Read more>>
China’s Housing Mess Finally Hits Xi’s Interest
A third year into an unprecedented housing downturn, Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to be finally getting worried, prompting speculation of quantitative easing and fuelling a bull run in Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks.
The latest readout from the Politburo meeting, released on 30 April, explains investors’ excitement. The country’s 24 most powerful men appeared open to taking a different approach to resolving the property crisis, calling for coordinated measures to digest existing housing stock. Read more>>
Hong Kong Mortgage Insurance Hits 10-Month High
Mortgage insurance for residential property in Hong Kong continues to rise amid a jump in transactions following the removal of cooling measures, hitting a 10-month high in April.
Newly approved mortgage insurance rose 53 percent in value to HK$13.71 billion ($1.75 billion) and 47 percent to 2,613 in terms of applications in April, compared with February, according to data from mortgage broker mReferral on Thursday. It was the highest since HK$16.07 billion from 2,847 cases recorded last June. Read more>>
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