In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, China Vanke lines up some heavy-hitting cornerstone investors for its property services IPO, GuocoLand hails a successful sales launch at its Lentor Modern project in Singapore, and a city-state residential site retries a collective sale.
China Vanke’s $784M IPO Spin-Off Attracts Temasek, UBS Hedge Funds
China Vanke, the nation’s third-biggest property developer by sales, has attracted six cornerstone investors including Temasek Holdings and hedge funds managed by UBS Group to the initial public offering by its property services unit in Hong Kong.
The Shenzhen-based developer is seeking to raise as much as HK$6.15 billion ($784 million) by selling 116.7 million shares in its unit Onewo Inc, according to a stock exchange filing on Monday. The shares are being marketed at HK$47.10 to HK$52.70 each. Read more>>
Kaisa Offshore Creditors Offer to Pay $2B to Buy Out Projects
An offshore bondholders’ group of cash-strapped Kaisa is offering up to $2 billion to acquire stalled housing projects of the Shenzhen-based developer to facilitate their completion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The takeover talks are in early stages, according to the people, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media on this subject. Read more>>
GuocoLand Sells 84% of Lentor Modern at Launch Weekend
GuocoLand sold 508 units, or 84 percent, of its Lentor Modern project’s 605 units over two days during its launch weekend at prices ranging from S$1,856 to S$2,538 per square foot.
The integrated mixed-use development in the Lentor Hills estate in the north of Singapore reported sales at prices ranging from S$1.07 million ($760,000) for a 527 square foot (49 square metre) one-bedroom unit to S$3.33 million for a 1,528 square foot four-bedroom unit, GuocoLand said Sunday. Read more>>
Oxley Garden Tries for En Bloc Again at Unchanged S$200M Price
Oxley Garden is back on the market, after a collective sale by tender closed in June without sealing a deal. Real estate agencies JLL and Brilliance Capital have relaunched the tender at a minimum price of S$200 million ($142 million), unchanged from the asking price of the earlier en bloc attempt.
Spanning 1 to 46 Oxley Garden, the freehold residential site was first put up for sale in April, shortly after an adjacent, larger property at 5 Oxley Rise was put on the market. The owners of 5 Oxley Rise own an access road that splits the Oxley Garden site into two. Both tenders closed in June 2022 without sales. Read more>>
Ong Sek Chong & Sons Adds to Lian Beng Stake
Between 12 and 14 September, Ong Sek Chong & Sons acquired 7,291,000 shares of Lian Beng Group. At an average price of 53.5 Singapore cents per share, the consideration for the two married deals totalled S$3,899,230 (over $2.7 million).
The transactions took the total interest of Ong Sek Chong & Sons in the homegrown construction group from 56.56 percent to 58.02 percent. Read more>>
Hongkongers Snub New Homes at Miami Quay, Kai Tak
Hongkongers continued to snub new home sales on Sunday as sentiment in the property market remained weak and potential buyers stuck with a wait-and-see attitude brought on by rising interest rates and a sluggish economy.
As of 7pm, only two out of 139 units on offer at Miami Quay, a new development at the site of Hong Kong’s former airport, had been sold, according to Sammy Po, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau. Among the 139 units on offer on Sunday, 65 were new, while the rest were left unsold last week. Read more>>
Renewed Call to Lift HK Quarantine Rules as Office Leasing Stutters
Leasing activity has slumped to a new low in the posh, glass-windowed offices of Hong Kong’s pricey Grade A buildings, in yet another clear sign of the city’s slow climb back to its former glory as a financial centre.
According to some industry analysts, one remedy that could deliver a quick boost to this lethargic industry is the phasing out of the punishing regimen of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Read more>>
Hedge Fund Star Fuchs Fights to Recover From Soured China Bets
Benjamin Fuchs was an Asia hedge fund star, managing $5 billion at his company’s peak. Now, the former Lehman Brothers trader is one of the highest-profile casualties of China’s property crisis and is battling to turn his firm around.
BFAM Partners Hong Kong Ltd’s hedge fund lost almost 11 percent last year and a further 20 percent in the first seven months of 2022 as a series of bets on Chinese developer bonds turned sour, after the firm mistakenly assumed the authorities would support the sector. While the losses aren’t existential or unique to BFAM, the company is bracing for possible redemptions and is under pressure to retain staff. Read more>>
China’s Mortgage Boycott Quietly Regroups as Construction Idles
Two months since many Chinese homebuyers stopped repaying mortgages to protest stalled construction on their properties, a lack of progress at more sites now threatens to intensify the boycott, despite assurances from authorities.
The mortgage protest became a rare act of public disobedience in China, pushed via social media in late June and forcing regulators to scramble to offer homebuyers loan payment holidays for up to six months and pledges to expedite construction. But with no sign of construction picking up at many projects and no clear guidance from local authorities, more homebuyers have told Reuters they plan to join others who have stopped paying mortgages. Read more>>
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