Former China Everbright Boss Arrested for Graft and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

The arrest of the former chairman of a Chinese financial giant leads today’s collection of real estate headlines from around the region, as the mainland’s graft crackdown continues. Also in the news, Capitaland’s China REIT prices a set of offshore bonds via the Shanghai FTZ and another logistics player heads for a Hong Kong IPO.

Ex-Boss of China’s Everbright Group Arrested for Corruption

The former boss of China’s state-owned banking giant Everbright Group has been arrested on charges of taking bribes, state media said Thursday.

Li Xiaopeng — who previously served as Everbright’s party secretary and chairman — was arrested “for suspected bribe-taking”, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the government body that issued the order. Read more>>

CapitaLand China Trust Prices $83M in Offshore Bonds via FTZ

A wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand China Trust has priced RMB 600 million ($83 million) worth of three-year offshore bonds within the Shanghai pilot free trade zone.

It is the first Singapore-based issuer to launch free trade zone offshore bonds, which also marked CLCT’s first issuance of renminbi-denominated bonds in a Chinese free trade zone, said CLCT’s manager on Friday. Read more>>

J&T Global Express Seen Valued at $13B in Hong Kong IPO

Courier startup J&T Global Express, which mainly operates in Southeast Asia and China, will launch a Hong Kong initial public offering on Monday that will value it at about $13 billion, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The valuation is lower than the $20 billion J&T achieved in a 2021 funding round, but in line with the amount achieved during its most recent funding round in May, the sources said. Read more>>

Boss of Singapore’s Oxley Plans Aussie Luxury Project

Property magnate Ching Chiat Kwong, who leads Singaporean listed developer Oxley Holdings, is pursuing a post-pandemic side project on the Gold Coast, lodging plans for an ultra-luxury $150 million residential complex at Sovereign Islands.

The prestige property retreat, which lies in the Southport Broadwater, will be home to 10 high-end apartments along with a restaurant, wine bar, patisserie, wellness spa and luxury retail outlets. Read more>>

Chinese Officials Urge Calm After Evergrande Sparks Small Bank Run 

Fears that Evergrande’s debt woes are spreading into the wider financial industry have sparked a run on a regional bank in northern China, multiple state media outlets have reported.

Depositors lined up at the bank in Cangzhou, in Hebei province, to withdraw their money, according to photos and videos circulated online this week, prompting an appeal for calm by officials. Read more>>

Korea’s IGIS Launches $100M Fund for Overseas Secondaries

Igis Asset Management, the largest real estate asset manager in South Korea, has launched a secondary fund worth $100 million in an effort to widen its investment portfolio.

Igis has recently set up a pooled investment fund worth $100 million to invest in a secondary blind fund operated by a global private equity firm. The name of the UK-based private equity firm was not disclosed. Read more>>

Hong Kong Home Prices to Slump Through 2024

Morgan Stanley abandoned its “too optimistic” call for Hong Kong residential property values to rebound this year, and now sees the market suffering two additional annual declines.

The Wall Street bank expects home prices in the Asian financial hub to fall 3 percent in 2023, in contrast with a previous forecast for an increase of 8 percent, analysts Praveen Choudhary and Jeffrey Mak wrote in a research note Wednesday. That follows a 16 percent tumble in 2022, according to the bank. Read more>>

China Weighs Stabilisation Fund to Support Stock Market

China is considering forming a state-backed stabilisation fund to shore up confidence in its $9.5 trillion stock market, according to people familiar with the matter.

After at least two rounds of consultation with industry participants over a period of months, financial regulators including the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently submitted a preliminary plan to the nation’s top leadership, said the people, who asked not be identified discussing a private matter. Read more>>

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