Samsung Eyes $724M Buyback of Seoul Office Tower and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

South Korean multinational Samsung leads Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today, as the company looks to buy back a Seoul office building it once owned. Also making the list, Hong Kong’s SHKP wins a government land tender in the New Territories and Ares Management is in talks to buy a stake in the project loan backing The Corniche in Ap Lei Chau.

Samsung Eyes $724M Buyback of Seoul Office Tower

Samsung Group is poised to acquire the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance headquarters building in Seoul for more than KRW 1 trillion ($724.4 million) from Koramco REITs Management and Trust, banking sources said Tuesday.

Koramco has sent an MOU to Samsung’s real estate investment arm, Samsung SRA Asset Management, to select the firm as the preferred bidder for the landmark tower, dubbed The Asset, sources said. If the deal is clinched, Samsung will be buying back a property it previously owned. Read more>>

SHKP Wins Sha Tin Plot for Price at Midpoint of Estimates

Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties has won a government land tender in the New Territories at a price in the “middle-range” of market expectations.

The amount paid was still a long way short of the price commanded by a comparable parcel of residential land sold off by the government almost two years ago in the same area. Read more>>

Ares Nears Deal for Stake in Loan Backing Hong Kong Tower

Ares Management is in the final stages of a deal to buy a majority stake in the HK$10.2 billion ($1.3 billion) project loan backing luxury apartment development The Corniche in Hong Kong.

The alternative investment manager could proceed with the official offer as soon as Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. Ares made an initial proposal of 95 cents on the dollar for the loan in April, Bloomberg News reported. Read more>>

Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Swings to $58M Loss

Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels expects to record a net loss of about HK$450 million ($57.6 million) for the first half of the year, reversing a net profit of HK$94 million a year ago.

Earnings fell because The Peninsula New York is under renovation and the new Peninsula hotels in London and Istanbul have not yet stabilised operations, the company said, adding that its other hotels had “weak markets.” Read more>>

Blackstone Buys Aussie Last-Mile Logistics Asset for $34M

Private equity giant Blackstone has swooped on a Queensland last-mile logistics asset being sold by Dexus Wholesale Property Fund in a play worth just over A$50 million ($33.6 million).

Blackstone has signalled its desire to grow in smaller facilities that can cater to e-commerce tenants, and the group has been building up its holdings after selling off its A$3.8 billion Milestone Logistics portfolio in 2021. Read more>> 

Bengaluru-Based Altern Capital Launches $30M Real Estate Fund

Altern Capital, a Bengaluru-based property-focused investment management firm, has launched its maiden SEBI-approved Category II alternative investment fund.

The vehicle has a target size of INR 2.5 billion ($29.9 million) and an additional greenshoe option of INR 1 billion. Read more>>

PE Investment in India Real Estate Rises 15% to $3B in H1

Private equity investment in Indian real estate surged by 15 percent year-on-year to $3 billion in the first half of 2024, according to a report by Knight Frank.

The warehousing sector dominated with 52 percent of total PE investment, led by a single deal of $1.5 billion between Reliance Retail, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and KKR. This was followed by residential at 29 percent and office at 20 percent. Read more>>

Chinese Builder Hopson Gets Loan Extension From Temasek’s SeaTown

Chinese developer Hopson Development Holdings has received a maturity extension of a loan from 2023 that backed the purchase of some commercial real estate space in a Hong Kong office building, according to people familiar with the matter.

SeaTown Holdings, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, has extended around $100 million to $115 million of a $165 million loan for Hopson. The developer had paid down a portion of the facility, originally due in May, to obtain a lower interest rate, the people said. Read more>>