Commerzone Porur in Chennai (Image: Mindspace Business Parks)
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, India-listed Mindspace REIT acquires the remaining fraction it didn’t already own of a Chennai IT park, and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala opens a Beijing office. Also making the list, a hotel trust picks up a property in Kuala Lumpur and China’s Hillhouse mulls a distressed-stock fund.
Mindspace REIT Pays $22M to Sew Up Chennai’s Commerzone Porur
Mindspace Business Parks REIT has acquired 240,000 square feet (22,297 square metres) of leasable area at Commerzone Porur in Chennai for a consideration of INR 181.6 crore ($21.9 million), including the transaction cost.
The company said the acquisition will help it to consolidate its ownership in the project. Mindspace REIT, through its Asset SPV, now owns 100 percent of the project with a total leasable area of 1.1 million square feet. Read more>>
Mubadala Formally Opens Beijing Office Amid Warming China-Gulf Ties
Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company this week formally opened its Beijing office amid warming ties between the world’s second-largest economy and the Gulf Arab states, five people with knowledge of the matter said.
Mubadala is the second-biggest state fund in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, after the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Read more>>
YTL Hospitality REIT Buys Hotel Stripes Kuala Lumpur for $30M
YTL Hospitality REIT has added Hotel Stripes Kuala Lumpur to its portfolio after acquiring the property for MYR 138 million ($29.5 million) in cash.
Stripes Kuala Lumpur is a five-star hotel on Jalan Kamunting in Kuala Lumpur. The property’s audited net book value was MYR 48.7 million as of 30 June 2022. Read more>>
Hillhouse Gauges Interest in Multibillion-Dollar China Fund
Hillhouse, the Asia-based investment firm started with Yale University endowment backing, is gauging international investor interest for what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar fund to buy beaten-down Chinese stocks.
Hillhouse has sounded out potential investors about a three-year fund, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not be identified discussing private information. The talks are in the early stages and the details have yet to be finalised, the people said. Read more>>
Nanjing Scraps Homebuying Curbs in China’s Latest Property Boost
Nanjing has eliminated curbs on homebuying, the first big Chinese city to do so, as policymakers scramble to arrest a deepening crisis in the massive property sector.
China’s authorities in recent weeks have rolled out a series of measures, such as easing borrowing rules, to support the debt-riddled property sector, which accounts for one-quarter of China’s economic activity, but analysts say the steps are unlikely to reverse the slide. Read more>>
Hong Kong’s Historic Storm Could Cost City $100M
Hong Kong’s worst torrential rain since 1884 could cost the city more than $100 million, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence estimate.
The heavy downpour that pummelled the city last night and into the morning wrecked vehicles, flooded subway stations and damaged shopping malls. MTR Corp has already suspended part of its Kwun Tong Line due to flooding near Wong Tai Sin station. Read more>>
Singapore Asks Banks to Probe Dealings With Laundering Suspects
Singapore’s central bank has directed financial institutions to review any relationships with individuals tied to a money-laundering scandal involving over S$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of assets.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore sent a note to the compliance heads of all financial firms in the city-state to examine any suspicious or unusual transactions by the people from the beginning of 2020, according to a copy of the 30 August instruction seen by Bloomberg. Banks must scrutinise dealings with 34 individuals, including the 10 suspects who were arrested last month. Read more>>
Country Garden’s $100B Luxury Complex That Sits Empty and Unfinished
On the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia, a cluster of high-rises built to house tens of thousands of people in luxury condominiums overlooks the sea. Nearly a decade after troubled Chinese real estate giant Country Garden began building the enclave, it is almost completely vacant.
Some people are now highly interested in it: Country Garden’s international creditors. Read more>>
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