Straits Trading Agrees to Acquire Trio of Tokyo Buildings and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Singapore’s hunger for overseas property leads Mingtiandi’s roundup of real estate headlines today as one of the city state’s most active private investment firms has agreed to buy a set of three buildings in Tokyo.

Hong Kong’s ongoing struggles also make an appearance with a mainland residential project in Kai Tak falling short of expectations for its sales debut late last week, while a local retailer braves a retail drought with the opening of a new high-end department store in Admiralty.

The drama around WeWork continues to provide news dividends as the office sharing giant works toward profitability through a slowdown in new leases and by bringing in new management from its biggest investor.

Straits Trading Agrees to Acquire Trio of Tokyo Buildings for S$40M

Singapore’s Straits Trading Company is looking to acquire three freehold apartment buildings in Tokyo, Japan, for a total of 3.08 billion yen (S$39.5 million).

Two of its Japanese subsidiaries, Residence 4 GK and Residence 5 GK, have inked conditional purchase and sale agreements to buy the 100 per cent trust beneficiary interests of the three residential properties, Straits Trading said in a filing on Thursday night. Read more>>

KWG-Longfor Kai Tak Project Struggles to Find Buyers

The most expensive new flats ever to go on the market at Kai Tak, the site of Hong Kong’s former international airport, met with a frosty reception on Friday as buyers held back amid a market reeling from months of civil unrest and the effects of the US-China trade war.

By 10pm, just 98 of the 218 units on sale at Upper Riverbank had found owners, a disappointing show when compared to similar project launches. Read more>>

WeWork to Slow New Leases

WeWork has resumed signing a limited number of new leases with landlords after a halt this week sent shockwaves through the global real estate market.

A deal in Tokyo on Friday came hours after senior executives at a Thursday meeting in New York ended a suspension of new lease signings, according to people briefed on the matter. The halt had been in place since Monday. Read more>>

Second HK Harvey Nichols Store Opens in Swire’s Pacific Place

Dickson Concepts (International) Limited, the Hong Kong purveyor of watches, clothing and luxury products, is doubling down on its quest for big spenders, as it reopens the second of its upmarket Harvey Nichols department stores.

The store at Swire Properties Limited’s Pacific Place shopping centre in Admiralty reopens on September 26 after a three-month overhaul and a price tag of HK$250 million (US$32 million). The outlet’s floor plate will be halved to 42,000 square feet (3,900 square metres). Read more>>

Blackstone Takes Control of Indiabulls Real Estate Assets

Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) said it has sold its remaining stake in some of its office assets in Gurugram and central Mumbai to Blackstone Group Lp for around ₹2,717 crore, paving the way for the New York-based investor to take full control of IBREL’s commercial office portfolio.

In a statement, the Mumbai-based developer said it has sold its stakes in joint venture companies Yashita Buildcon Ltd and Ashkit Properties Ltd—which own assets in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram and certain subsidiaries in Indiabulls Properties Pvt. Ltd and Indiabulls Real Estate Co. Pvt. Ltd, that own assets at Lower Parel in Mumbai—to Blackstone. The sale of these assets was concluded on 25 September. Read more>>

Suning Completes RMB 4.8B Acquisition of Carrefour China

Chinese e-commerce giant Suning announced on Friday it has completed acquisition of Carrefour Group’s local operations.

The French hypermarket operator agreed to sell an 80 percent stake in its China unit for 4.8 billion yuan ($698 million) in cash to the retail unit of Suning Holdings Group Ltd, according to a statement on June 23. Read more>>

Softbank to Send COO to Turn Around WeWork

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is seeking the help of its chief operating officer, Marcelo Claure, to turn around WeWork, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Claure, who is also the former chief executive of Sprint Corp (S.N) and remains its executive chairman, has been asked by SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son to take a “more hands-on role” at WeWork, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter. Read more>>

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