Singapore Condo Sales Fall 53% in December and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Sunny Singapore leads the real estate news in Asia today as the city-state’s gradual housing slide hit a steeper slope in December, according to fresh government figures. Blackstone also returns to the headlines today with news that the US real estate specialist is raising $100 million in debt to refinance a set of Mumbai office projects and pair of investment banking giants appear to have taken the inside track for a tasty Hong Kong IPO. Read on for all these headlines and more from around the region.

SG Private Home Sales Fall 53% in December

Developers in Singapore moved 538 private homes in December 2019, half of the 1,147 units they sold in the previous month. The latest figure is also 10.6 per cent lower than the 602 units sold in December 2018.

Developers sold 2,635 units in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 43.5 per cent from 1,836 units in the same quarter a year ago. For the whole of last year, their sales totalled 10,104 units, which is 14.9 per cent higher than the 8,795 in 2018. Read more>>

Blackstone Raising $100M to Refinance Indiabulls Office Projects

Private equity firm Blackstone Group-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV), which houses Indiabulls Finance Centre (IFC) as one of its assets, is looking to raise about $100 million ( ₹725 crore) by selling non-convertible debentures (NCD) to refinance its debt and for capital expenditure.

Nearly half of the total funds raised, worth ₹300 crore, will be used to refinance the existing construction finance facility of the ‘Tower 4’ (T4) at the Mumbai-based commercial property, which will have a total leasable area of about 900,000 sq. ft. Read More>>

Goldman, CICC Said Working on Yum China Hong Kong Listing

Yum China Holdings is working with China International Capital Corp and Goldman Sachs Group on preparations for a second listing in Hong Kong, fuelling the wave of US-listed Chinese companies returning to a market that is closer to home.

The operator of Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in China is working with the banks on the share sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The listing could take place as soon as this year. Read more>>

Chow Tai Fook to Shut 20% of HK Stores, Focus on Mainland

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group’s decision to shut about one-fifth of its stores in protest-hit Hong Kong and focus on growing its presence in mainland China market suggests a slump in retail sales is not about the reverse soon.

The world’s second-largest jewellery chain by market value has leases on more than 40 of its stores in Hong Kong expiring between April 2020 and March 2021, a spokesperson said in an email late Tuesday. The plan is not to renew as many as 15 of them in tourists districts such as Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, citing “macro headwinds” as a reason. Read more>>

SG’s OUE Cuts Stake in Gemdale to Under 24%

OUE on Tuesday said it has pared its stake in associated company and Hong Kong-listed real estate developer Gemdale Properties and Investment Corporation from 27.8 per cent to 23.8 per cent, after selling about 635.5 million shares of par value HK$0.10 each at HK$0.91 apiece.

The aggregate consideration of about HK$578 million (S$100.2 million) will be paid wholly in cash. The net asset value of each sale share was about HK$0.892 as at June 30, 2019, it said. Read more>>

Singapore Retail Tech Startup Raises $8.9M

Singapore retail tech startup StoreHub has raised US$8.9 million in Series A+ funding, led by returning investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. Also participating in this round were Accord Ventures and a private family office, StoreHub said in a media statement on Wednesday.

To date, StoreHub has secured about US$15 million in funding. This includes US$5.1 million in a Series A round led by Temasek-linked Vertex Ventures in 2018, and about US$1 million in seed funding back in 2016, a company spokesman told The Business Times. Read more>>

Developer Country Garden Opens Robot Restaurant in Guangzhou

Chinese real estate giant Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. (02007.HK) opened its first restaurant operated mainly by robots in Guangzhou over the weekend.

The restaurant, located in Zhujiang New Town, mainly serves cuisine from Shunde, the hometown of founder Yang Guoqiang. The restaurant uses robots to cook, deliver food, take orders and guide customers. In the kitchen alone, there are 32 robots preparing and cooking food. Read more>>

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