Country Garden Offers to Swap Loan for Malaysia Project and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Country Garden chairwoman and controlling shareholder Yang Huiyan (Image: Country Garden Weibo)

Forest City, Country Garden’s Malaysian mega-project, becomes a bargaining chip as the Chinese builder hammers out a debt restructuring deal, with that story leading today’s headline roundup. Also making the list, South Korea’s Koramco markets a Seoul office tower and AustralianSuper strikes a European shed deal with Canada’s Oxford Properties.

Country Garden Boss Said Proposing to Swap $1.1B in Loans for Forest City Project
China’s Country Garden has proposed to the company’s creditors that shareholder loans owed to controlling shareholder Yang Huiyan and her family could be swapped for shares in the company and its stake in a Malaysian mega-project.

As part of a restructuring deal presented to creditors on 9 January, Country Garden said that $1.1 billion in loans owed to the Yang family could be exchanged for equity in the developer and for the company’s 60 percent stake in the unfinished Forest City development in Malaysia’s Johor Bahru, according to an account in mainland news outlet The Paper. Read more>>

Korea’s Koramco Said Marketing Seoul Office Tower for $272M
South Korea’s Koramco REITs Management & Trust Co is poised to sell a prime office building in Seoul in an estimated KRW 400 billion ($272 million) deal, investment banking industry sources said Monday.

Koramco is in talks with real estate sale advisors to unload Centre Point Gwanghwamun, a 22-storey office building in the South Korean capital’s central business district, the sources said. The real estate investment company plans to send requests for proposals after reviewing market conditions and demand with the advisors, according to the sources. Read more>>

AustralianSuper Buying 50% Stake in European Shed Portfolio From Oxford Properties
Canada’s Oxford Properties is selling a 50 percent stake in a C$1.2 billion ($830 million) portfolio of European warehouses to AustralianSuper, forming a joint venture with Australia’s largest pension fund manager to help ramp up its exposure to logistics and industrial properties.

In addition to buying half of Oxford’s warehouse assets, AustralianSuper will become a co-owner of M7 Real Estate, a European investment manager focused on the logistics sector that Oxford acquired in 2021. Read more>>

Sunac Said to Gain Restructuring Support From Holders of 9 Out of 10 Onshore Bonds
Sunac China has now won the support of holders of nine of its 10 onshore bonds to implement a restructuring that would cut its RMB 15.4 billion ($2.1 billion) onshore debt by more than half, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Progress by the Beijing-based developer towards a landmark restructuring deal for RMB bonds could open the gates to a flurry of such deals this year, as China’s property sector gives up on returning to financial health any time soon. Read more>>

WeWork India Raises $58M in Equity from Embassy Group, WeWork Global
WeWork India announced on Monday a significant financial move, securing INR 5 billion ($57.7 million) through a rights issue to primarily reduce debt and support further expansion efforts. The capital injection sees joint contributions from principal stakeholders Embassy Group and WeWork Global.

The Bengaluru-based co-working space leader, in which Embassy Group holds a 73 percent share and WeWork Global a 27 percent stake, has earmarked these funds for strategic debt repayment and cost of capital reduction. The initiative marks another step in the company’s journey towards becoming debt-free, further solidifying investor confidence. Read more>>

Canada’s CPPIB Sets Up $279M Brazilian Residential JV
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a joint venture agreement with Cyrela Brazil Realty, the largest residential developer in Brazil. Cyrela’s fund management subsidiary, CY Capital, will act as the manager of the investment vehicle.

CPPIB and Cyrela have established an investment target of BRL 1.7 billion ($279 million), on an equal partnership basis, to develop condos in Sao Paulo targeting more than BRL 6 billion in potential sales value over the next several years. Read more>>

Country Garden Property Services Division Issues Profit Warning
The property services arm of Chinese builder Country Garden is expecting a drop of up to RMB 1.1 billion ($150 million) in annual earnings as its sanitation business plans to record an impairment charge for goodwill and tangible assets.

The unit, Country Garden Services, said the impairment was primarily because the expansion of its sanitation business had not been carried out as scheduled and expected, leading to a drop in both sales and profit. Read more>>

More Distressed Deals Expected in Hong Kong as Slump Continues
Hong Kong is likely to see more distressed commercial properties snapped up by investors this year compared with 2024, as landlords and receivers have become more willing to slash their asking prices.

In 2024, the cumulative value of distressed property transactions in Hong Kong hit HK$15 billion ($1.9 billion), according to JLL. In 2012, the value of such transactions peaked at HK$82.7 billion. Read more>>

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