SPH Closes in A$700M Aussie Retail Acquisition

Singapore Press Holdings is targeting a 50 percent stake in a Westfield shopping centre in Adelaide

A retail investment in far southern Australia leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of Asia real estate news today as the kingpin of Singapore’s newspaper world continues to find bricks and mortar more compelling than paper and ink as it closes in on a deal to acquire a 50 percent stake in an Adelaide shopping centre.

In other news around the region, shares in a Gurugram-based real estate investor have taken a hit after allegations of embezzlement, while a Mumbai property tycoon is planning $2.2 billion in data centre investment and a major Singapore developer has now leased 95 percent of a Chongqing mall which hasn’t even opened yet.

Singapore Press Holdings Closes In on A$700M Adelaide Deal

One of the year’s most-anticipated commercial property transactions is nearing the end game, as Singapore Press Holdings emerges as a strong contender to take over a A$700 million ($483 million) half stake in Adelaide’s biggest mall, Westfield Marion.

While there have been bigger deals already this year, the looming transaction in suburban Adelaide has caught the attention of many due to the significance it holds for pricing retail property assets. Read more>>

Chinese Developers Caught in Trust Funding Squeeze

The latest tightening in funding might drive a fresh round of consolidation among mainland Chinese property developers, with an acceleration in acquisition of land and assets by the biggest players, analysts said.

The biggest developers are expected to grow at the expense of smaller rivals, with their performance increasingly deviating from the industry average. Read more>>

Indiabulls Shares Fall 10% After Embezzlement Allegation

Shares of Indiabulls Group companies fell sharply on Monday after a letter written to the Prime Minister by MP and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged embezzlement of more than Rs 1 lakh crore from the National Housing Bank (NHB) by the group.

The shares of the group’s flagship company, Indiabulls Housing Finance, fell 10.44 percent to close at INR 559 ($8.13) on the BSE and were down 12.29 percent in intra-day trade at INR 547.40. Read more>>

Indian PE Firm Raises INR 10B for 4th India Real Estate Fund

Motilal Oswal Real Estate (MORE) has raised close to INR 1,000 crore ($145 million) for its fourth fund, and is actively seeking opportunities in the mid-market residential projects with large developers, which will include land acquisitions either through structured mezzanine or structured equity.

The size of the fourth fund, known as the India Realty Excellence Fund IV, is INR 1,200 crore which may go up to INR 1,500 crore. Read more>>

Hiranandani Targets Amazon and Alphabet with $2.2B Data Park Plan

After a successful stint in the real estate industry, property tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani is setting his sight on what he believes could become another big moneymaker: Selling data storage services to companies such as Amazon and Alphabet or the parent company of Google.

Marking a foray into the digital technology infrastructure sector that India is looking to accelerate, Mumbai-based real estate developer Hiranandani Group has lined up investments of nearly INR 15,000 crore over the next five to seven years for setting up data centres in Panvel in the outskirts of Mumbai and Chennai. Read more>>

HK Housing Authority Allows Subletting of Subsidised Flats

The Housing Authority has announced it will allow subsidised homeowners to sublet their units to those waiting for public flats without paying a premium, in an effort to help address Hong Kong’s mounting housing problem.

Eligible owners must have owned their flats for more than 10 years, while tenants are restricted to general public housing applicants who have been waiting for more than three years, or non-elderly single applicants who have been waiting for at least six years. Read more>>

Liquidity Crisis Hurts Mumbai Property Market

The real estate market in India’s financial hub of Mumbai has been severely hit by the liquidity crisis, making it even more vulnerable than the National Capital Region (NCR), the worst hit in the slowdown so far.

Mumbai, India’s most valuable real estate market, is grappling with a lack of lenders and is showing deeper signs of distress, reflected in the schemes and discounts offered by developers to push sales. Read more>>

CapitaLand Secures 95% Leasing for Raffles City Chongqing Mall

CapitaLand has achieved a 95 percent leasing rate for the retail component of Raffles City Chongqing ahead of the mega-mall’s opening in September this year, the mainboard-listed property heavyweight said on 29 July.

The shopping mall will be the first component to begin operations at the iconic mega-structure spanning a total of 1.12 million square metres in construction floor area. Read more>>

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