SPH Takes 20% Stake in Prime US REIT Manager and More Asia Real Estate Headlines 

A Singapore-listed real estate investment trust leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today with the news that the kingpin of the city state’s newspaper business has taken a 20 percent stake in the REIT’s manager.

Also in the news, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund has finally sold a half-stake in a Sydney office tower, while BlackRock and CLSA lead a $53 million funding round for an Indian co-working operator.

Elsewhere, a German pension fund sells a landmark building in Osaka, and the parent company of Holiday Hotels finds the China hospitality business tougher going.

SPH Takes 20% Stake In Prime US REIT Manager

Singapore Press Holdings on 6 August completed its acquisition of a 20 percent interest in KBS US Prime Property Management, which manages newly listed Prime US REIT.

SPH, which publishes The Straits Times and The Business Times, announced on June 28 that its wholly owned subsidiary Times Properties signed a call option agreement to acquire the stake in the REIT manager from KBS Asia Partners. Read more>>

GIC Sells Half-Stake in Sydney Tower to Charter Hall Funds

Two Charter Hall (ASX: CHC) managed wholesale funds have partnered with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to acquire the iconic Chifley Tower.

Charter Hall will assume the asset and property management of 2 Chifley Square, Sydney, increasing the group’s funds under management (FUM) by approximately $1.8 billion to over $33 billion. Charter Hall’s prime office fund and DVP wholesale fund has formed a joint venture with GIC to own Chifley Tower as co-owners. Read more>>

Perennial Pulls Out of London Skyscraper Deal

Singapore developer Perennial Real Estate Holdings has dealt a blow to Eric Parry Architects’ approved plans to build the tallest tower in the City of London.

The Singapore firm decided not to use an option it had to invest in the proposed scheme, a 73-storey office-led skyscraper, which is set to replace the Aviva Tower next to the Gherkin. Read more>>

Perennial Profit Drops 75%

Higher finance costs and the absence of a fair value gain took a toll on results for real estate developer Perennial Real Estate Holdings for its fiscal second quarter ended 30 June.

Net profit for the three-month period plunged 74.9 per cent to S$2.2 million ($1.59 million), from S$8.6 million a year ago, mainly due to higher net finance cost attributed to higher interest rates and additional loans to fund new investments. Read more>>

German Pension Fund Sells Landmark Osaka Office Tower

Germany’s largest pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has sold a landmark office tower in Osaka, Japan to local real estate company Phoenix, and simultaneously acquired a residential portfolio in the city.

The sale of the Midosuji Grand Tower and the purchase of 18 residential assets were carried out by CBRE Global Investors and Universal-Investment on behalf of BVK. Read more>>

GoWork Raises $53M to Expand India Co-Working Operations

GoWork, a Gurgaon-based startup that runs a co-working spaces business in India, said on Tuesday it has raised $53 million in a debt round to scale its business in the country as competition in the market, including from recent entrant Oyo Rooms, intensifies.

The debt round for the two-year-old startup — not to be confused with an Indonesian startup with the same name that operates in the same space — was financed by a private fund managed by BlackRock’s Private Credit team and CLSA Capital Partners’ Special Situations Group, the startup said. Read more>>

Co-Working Provider Awfis Raises $30M Series D Funding

Awfis, a startup that rents coworking space to businesses, raised $30 million in a Series D equity financing round led by homegrown ChrysCapital, a senior executive at the private equity firm said.

“Coworking has changed the way commercial real estate business is conducted globally and has picked up a lot of steam in India, with Awfis leading the disruption. Awfis’s sustainable approach to business, superior performance and strong customer focus has encouraged ChrysCapital to associate with them,” Kshitij Sheth, vice president at ChrysCapital said in an interview. Read more>>

IHG Hotels Global Revenue Rises 0.1% but Falls 0.3% in China

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported a marginally higher first-half room revenue on Tuesday, though fewer business travellers in China and protests in Hong Kong led to a decline in demand from Greater China.

The owner of brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Hotel Indigo said revenue per available room (RevPAR), the industry’s key performance measure, rose 0.1 percent for the six months ended 30 June. In Greater China, where the group operates around 400 hotels, revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell 0.3 percent, IHG said. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.

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