URWork Rebrands as Ucommune After WeWork Spat and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

At the top of the news today, China’s biggest co-working operator decided to start the new year out with a new name after tangling with its North American rival over pronouns and trademarks. South Korea investors also show up with an office buy in Vienna, and a mainland developer hopes to bring in over $500 million from a Hong Kong IPO in 2018. Read on for all these stories and more.

UrWork is Now ucommune Following WeWork Spat

The “UrWork” brand is no more. WeWork Cos.’s Chinese rival is re-naming its shared-office service “ucommune,” a re-tool that may help it side-step potential legal hassles as it pursues a global expansion.

URwork (Beijing) Venture Investment Co. retains its formal name but decided to drop the moniker from all of its hundred-plus locations after WeWork called off a trademark battle against its competitor. Read more>>

South Korean Investors Buy Vienna Office for $71M

JR AMC Co. Ltd, a South Korean real estate investment trust (REIT), has acquired an office building used as the headquarters of Porr AG, a European construction company, in Vienna for €60 million ($71.2 million), on behalf of two South Korean institutional investors.

The purchase was its first cross-border investment since South Korea allowed REITs last year to launch real estate funds and came as South Korean real estate investors are diversifying beyond big cities in Europe such as Paris, London and Frankfurt where they see slimmer chances of reaping handsome returns than before. Read more>>

Mainland Developer Zhenro Hopes for HK$4.1B IPO

Chinese real estate developer Zhenro Properties Group Ltd. plans to raise up to HK$4.08 billion ($522 million) from an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, amid tightening domestic rules on financing for the sector.

The company will use the proceeds to fund property construction and repay debt, it said in a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. Read more>>

BlackRock, Schroders Win China Fund Management Licences

China’s fund industry body has granted private fund manager (PFM) licences to the wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) of BlackRock Inc. and Schroders, allowing the global asset managers to offer onshore investment products to institutional and high net worth investors in the Mainland.

BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) and Schroders Investment Management (Shanghai) registered as PFMs with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) last week, according to their parent companies. Read more>>

Singapore’s URA Launches Two More Sites for Public Tender

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday launched two sites that will provide new private housing at Sengkang Central and Hillview Rise for sale by public tender.

The two sites come under the confirmed list of the second half 2017 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. Together, the two sites can potentially yield about 1,235 residential units, the URA said. Read more>>

Marks and Spencer Sells HK Business in Retail Retreat

Marks & Spencer has sold its retail business in Hong Kong and Macau to its franchise partner Al-Futtaim as it retreats from international markets to focus on its core business in Britain, the company said on Tuesday (Jan 2).

Al-Futtaim, which already operates 72 M&S stores across 11 markets in Asia and the Middle East, purchased 27 shops in the deal, which completed on Saturday, M&S said. Read more>>

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