Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Third Director Leaves CDL Board Over Investment in China’s Sincere Property

2021/01/04 by Pimfha Chandhapradit Leave a Comment

Sincere Center Chongqing

The Sincere Center in Chongqing is a nexus of trouble for CDL

The new year is looking much like the old for City Developments Ltd and its board, with a third director in as many months stepping down over the Singaporean firm’s contentious investment in Chinese developer Sincere Property Group.

The resignation of independent non-executive director Tan Yee Peng was announced in a filing with the Singapore Exchange on Monday, effective 30 December 2020.

Knight Frank 390-396 Pitt St

The 47-year-old Tan, who was chairman of the board sustainability committee, had served as a director since May 2014. The former partner at accounting giant KPMG is also an independent director of Dutech Holdings Ltd, a China-based, Singapore-listed maker of safes and semiconductor-related products.

“Ms Tan’s reasons for her resignation as a director of the company are in relation to the group’s investment in the Sincere Property Group,” CDL said in the filing. “She disagreed with the board and the management about the handling of the investment after the acquisition.”

Three’s a Crowd

Tan’s exit comes in the wake of two other departures from the developer’s board in recent months.

Tan Yee Peng SIngapore

Now-former CDL director Tan Yee Peng was not a fan of the Sincere deal

In October, non-executive, non-independent director Kwek Leng Peck stepped down after more than 30 years in his role. Then just last week, Koh Thiam Hock, a former vice chairman of Bank of America in Singapore, resigned as a CDL director after serving since September 2016.

In his resignation, Kwek had cited disagreements with the board and management about CDL’s investment in Sincere, as well as the company’s approach to its struggling hospitality division, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Ltd (M&C). Kwek is the cousin of CDL executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng and the uncle of CDL group chief executive and executive director Sherman Kwek.

The Sincere dispute factored in Koh’s decision as well. “Having shared his observations, concerns and suggestions on the group’s investment in Sincere Property Group with all members of the board, Mr Koh is of the view that it is most appropriate for him to now step down as a director,” CDL said in its announcement of his resignation.

The developer appeared to acknowledge the concerns of its former directors today with an announcement to the Singapore exchange that it has appointed a special working group to review and improve liquidity for its investment in Sincere.

Sustainability Forum

“The CDL special working group will accelerate efforts by CDL to work closely with Sincere Property to improve its liquidity and profitability while limiting any additional financial exposure to the Group,” the developer’s chairman, Kwek Leng Beng said in a statement. “Notwithstanding the liquidity challenges, Sincere Property remains a platform for future growth in the Chinese market because of its real estate footprint across China.”

CDL in April said it had agreed to acquire a 51 percent stake in Chongqing-based Sincere for RMB 4.39 billion ($621 million). The news came just under a month after four domestic bonds issued by Sincere were suspended from trading for a day after the developer had failed to make payments on the instruments worth an aggregate RMB 2.6 billion.

In the unaudited financial statements for the first six months of the year, CDL estimated the fair value of Sincere’s net identifiable assets at RMB 9 billion. Based on its purchase consideration of S$882 million (about $665 million), which was on an agreed valuation of Sincere at RMB 8.6 billion, CDL recognised S$43.2 million of negative goodwill for its joint controlling interest and a S$7.7 million mark-to-market gain on a 9 percent call option, which was included in the takeover but cannot be exercised before July 2022.

Upon Further Review

In early November, CDL announced the appointment of Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services to assist in reviewing its investment in Sincere. Upon completing its review, Deloitte said the mainland developer possessed good assets from which CDL could extract further value.

Even so, CDL said it would weigh Deloitte’s findings and those of auditor KPMG before finalising its own assessment of the fair value of the Sincere assets by the end of 2020.

Former director Tan had served as an audit partner with KPMG from 2003 to 2010. But she was not involved in any KPMG audit engagement with CDL, according to the developer.

MTD Proptech Report

On Monday, CDL announced the appointment of Lee Jee Cheng Philip, 60, as an independent non-executive director with immediate effect, replacing Tan. Also an experienced accountant, Lee made partner at KPMG Singapore in 1995 and served until his retirement in September 2018. He currently sits on the governing council of Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation Ltd.

In late November, CDL issued guidance predicting a full-year loss for 2020, which it linked to the expected continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CDL foresees its global hospitality segment, led by wholly-owned M&C, recording a deficit in 2020 amid the ongoing COVID crisis, as the group continues to smart from its £776 million (then $989 million) buyout of the London-listed hospitality firm in 2019.

Related Stories

  • CDL Acquires Majority Stake in Shenzhen Tech Park to Prop Up Sincere JVCDL Acquires Majority Stake in Shenzhen Tech Park to Prop Up Sincere JV
  • Singapore’s CDL Predicts 2020 Loss, Further Hotel Woes Next YearSingapore’s CDL Predicts 2020 Loss, Further Hotel Woes Next Year
  • ARA-Chelsfield JV Buys SG’s Manulife Centre From CDL and Alpha for S$555MARA-Chelsfield JV Buys SG’s Manulife Centre From CDL and Alpha for S$555M
  • Singapore’s CDL Buys Former London Stock Exchange from Blackstone for £385MSingapore’s CDL Buys Former London Stock Exchange from Blackstone for £385M

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: job changes Tagged With: CDL, City Developments, Featured, Sincere Property, weekly-sp

Logistics Forum

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Altus Cashflow Ebook

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

Office Investment

MTD TV

MTD TV data centre panel

Blackstone, Actis Predict Continued Growth for APAC Data Centres on MTD TV

Data Centre Operators Tackle APAC Expansion Challenges in MTD TV Panel

More MTD TV Videos

Latest Stories

goodwin gaw

Gaw Capital Said Planning US SPAC and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

quayside hong kong

IWG Opens in the Quayside in Third Takeover of Hong Kong WeWork Location

JLL Alex Barnes

Hong Kong Office Vacancy Hits 9.3% as Deutsche Bank, AIA Surrender Space

Sponsored Features

Tony Horrell

Colliers’ Global Investor Sentiment Report Anticipates Up to 50% Surge in Investment in 2021 Sponsored Feature

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

CK Lau

Asia Pacific Logistics Sector: Increasingly Varied Sector Requires Multiple Approaches Sponsored Feature

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

Hines Ramps Up APAC Presence With New Hires in Japan, South KoreaHines Ramps Up APAC Presence With New Hires in Japan, South Korea

Skip Schwartz to Head Back to US as Heitman Preps New APAC LeadershipSkip Schwartz to Head Back to US as Heitman Preps New APAC Leadership

Link REIT Buying Half-Stake in Vanke Shanghai Mall for $429MLink REIT Buying Half-Stake in Vanke Shanghai Mall for $429M


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team