Tencent to Open First SG Office in OCBC Centre East and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Singapore continues to attract tech giants from both east and west, with China’s Tencent now reported to be opening its first office in the city-state, soon after Tiktok’s parent firm Bytedance chose to upsize its footprint in the city.

Also getting some headlines today, the rush of companies into Vietnam comes as one of Malaysia’s largest developers exits the rapidly growing Southeast Asian nation, and the Hong Kong exchange is getting its first real estate ETF, courtesy of a Korean asset manager.

Tencent to Open First Singapore Office in OCBC Centre

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has chosen a co-working space for its first office in Singapore, joining other Chinese tech giants in using the city state for a launching pad into the rest of Asia.

The WeChat owner will have almost 200 seats at JustCo’s co-working space in OCBC Centre East at Raffles Place, according to people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The space amounts to 10,000 square feet (929 square meters). Read more>>

GuocoLand to Exit Vietnam, Sell Subsidiaries for S$38.3M

GuocoLand has proposed to sell its subsidiaries in Vietnam for some 656.09 billion dong (S$38.3 million), after which the luxury property developer will no longer have business operations in the country.

The mainboard-listed company on Wednesday evening said its wholly-owned subsidiary GuocoLand Vietnam (S) Pte Ltd (GLVS) is planning to sell the entire charter capital of GuocoLand Vietnam Company Limited (GVC) to Hang Vay Chi, Vuong Hoa and TT Investment Company. The parties have inked a sale and purchase agreement. Read more>>

Samsung Launches First Real Estate-focused ETF in HKEX

Simmons & Simmons has advised Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong), on launching the first ever Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be dedicated to investing in real estate investment trusts (REIT)s.

The ETF, which is a sub-fund of Samsung ETFs Trust II, an umbrella unit trust set up by the company two years ago, is named Samsung S&P High Dividend Asia Pacific-Ex New Zealand REITs ETF (The ETF). Read more>>

SG Retail Rents Could Bottom Out in Early ‘21

The increased activity in Singapore’s retail sector hints at a bottoming out of rents by the end of this year or early next year, Knight Frank’s research team said in a report published on Friday (Oct 16).

Overall retail rents are expected to fall by 10-15 per cent for the whole of this year due to recessionary pressures and safe-distancing restrictions, according to the real estate consultancy. Read more>>

US Hedge Fund DE Shaw to Open Singapore Office

D E Shaw & Co will open an office in Singapore next year, joining other hedge funds expanding in the city-state to extend their reach in Asia.

The firm, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds with more than US$50 billion in investment capital, has applied for a fund management licence from the Singapore central bank, adding to existing Asian operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai, according to a statement Thursday. Read more>>

Private Equity Investors Steer Clear of India Retail

Private equity investments in the retail segment of real estate declined during the January-September period on a year-on-year basis with investors remaining cautious due to the pandemic.

Knight Frank India’s report on PE investments in domestic real estate sector shows that PE players abandoned retail in favour of office assets as they fear the virus is likely to keep footfalls low even though malls have opened in several cities. Read more>>

Miniso Targets ‘Every Corner of the World’ After NYSE IPO

Miniso Group Holding, China’s largest variety lifestyle goods retailer, appears to be winning over investors with an expansion plan to reach “every corner of the world”, judging by its robust New York Stock Exchange initial public offering.

The group, which combined the appeal Japanese rival Muji’s quality with affordable pricing concept, intends to spend 60 per cent of its US$608 million IPO proceeds to boost its market presence and warehousing and logistics strength. Read more>>

Asian Investors Entangled in $1.2B German Property Scandal

A German real estate company is at the center of allegations of thousands of investors in Asia and elsewhere being bilked of more than $1 billion in an investment scandal, and authorities are now racing to recover at least part of the funds.

A court-appointed liquidator is seeking to identify the investors in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and elsewhere who funneled more than 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) into the company — which promised double-digit returns from the redevelopment of historic German buildings — until most of the money disappeared. Read more>>

Tokyo Opens HK Office to Attract Firms to Financial Hub

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has set up an office in Hong Kong to consult with companies considering a move to the Japanese capital, part of its push to make the city a global financial center.

The Hong Kong office opened for online consultations on Friday, Governor Yuriko Koike said at a news briefing. “I want to make Tokyo the No. 1 financial city in Asia,” she said. Read more>>

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