Tokyo Gas president Shinichi Sasayama
The boss of Tokyo Gas responds after an activist investor targets the utility’s real estate portfolio, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also in the news, Bain-backed Chindata sounds out lenders for a $2.8 billion loan and Equinix India buys a Pune area site.
Tokyo Gas Vows to Review Real Estate Portfolio After Elliott Investment
Japan’s biggest utility gas provider said it will consider a variety of measures to unlock the value of its real estate assets, including potentially selling some that are not efficiently used, after US-based Elliott Investment Management targeted the firm’s properties.
Some of Tokyo Gas Co’s real estate assets do not have high capital efficiency, and the firm will consider ways to utilise them better, president Shinichi Sasayama said at a briefing in Tokyo on Thursday. The company also believes that its current mid-term return-on-equity target of 8 percent is not enough and will raise it once the goal is met, Sasayama said. Read more>>
Bain-Backed Chindata Said in Market for $2.8B Loan
Bain Capital-owned data centre operator Chindata Group Holdings is in discussions with lenders for a potential loan of around $2.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be its largest bank financing ever.
Proceeds of the five-year facility would be used to refinance some of the firm’s existing loans and fund its expansion plans in Malaysia, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Discussions are ongoing and details could change, the people said. Read more>>
Equinix India Buys Pune Area Site for $19M
Equinix India has purchased a land parcel of 1.4 acres (0.6 hectares) in Pune’s Chandivali township for INR 1.6 billion ($19 million). The data centre firm bought the land from Overseas Packing Industries and Warden Hyforce, according to documents accessed by CRE Matrix.
Equinix paid stamp duty of INR 105.6 million for the deal registered on 21 November. The land parcel is likely to be used to set up a data centre. Read more>>
Convicted Vietnamese Tycoon Talks Up Potential Malaysian Bailout
Condemned Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan may find an unlikely lifeline in Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan of Berjaya Corporation and other foreign investors, as she seeks to repay hefty debts in a last-ditch effort to avoid execution.
One of Malaysia’s wealthiest men, Tan has agreed to purchase a key asset, the Sterling Residence development — also known as the 6A project — from Truong, who is willing to sell at a discount to raise funds to repay the victims in Vietnam’s largest fraud case. Read more>>
Indonesia’s Sugianto Touts Theme Park, F1 Course in North Jakarta
A port, a theme park and maybe even a Formula One race — those are just some of the things that one of Indonesia’s richest men believes can be hosted at his ambitious real estate project in North Jakarta.
Sugianto Kusuma, president director and owner of PT Pantai Indah Kapuk Dua, is in talks with partners from China and Singapore to build a port but declined to reveal more details. His company may need in excess of IDR 5 trillion ($320 million) in capital expenditure next year to fulfil its expansion plans, he said. Read more>>
HSBC Hong Kong Warns on Commercial Real Estate Exposure
HSBC Hong Kong should see good profitability over the next 12-18 months, but its commercial real estate exposure will continue to be a problem, according to Moody’s Ratings.
The ratings agency expects the bank to log stable net interest income and a low credit cost of below 0.4 percent over the period. The bank’s net interest margin and overall profitability benefit from high market interest rates and a higher proportion of current and savings accounts deposits to total deposits, the agency said. Read more>>
India’s K Raheja Paying $80K to Settle Case with Regulator
K Raheja Investment Managers on Thursday settled a case with capital markets regulator SEBI on an alleged violation of REIT rules by paying INR 6.8 million ($80,000) towards settlement fee in the matter of Mindspace Business Parks REIT.
Mindspace Business Parks REIT, sponsored by K Raheja Corp group, was listed on the Indian bourses in August 2020. It owns office portfolios in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. Read more>>
Hong Kong Penthouse Sold at 68% Discount
Financially pressured Hong Kong and mainland Chinese tycoons continue offloading real estate assets in the city at a loss as the market sees a revival in transactions, attracting more bargain hunters.
A three-storey penthouse apartment at The Arch complex atop Hong Kong’s Kowloon station sold Tuesday as part of a six-unit portfolio of properties under receivership. The portfolio sold for HK$410 million ($52.7 million) — 68 percent less than the HK$1.3 billion asking price in 2021. The portfolio, including six parking spaces, belonged to Hui Chi-ming, the former chairman of Sino Union Petroleum & Chemical International, according to the Land Registry. Read more>>
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