Alibaba’s Cainiao Weighs $2B Hong Kong IPO and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Alibaba’s Cainiao logistics arm reportedly plans a public listing in 2024, and strong occupancy continues in Lendlease Global REIT’s portfolio. Also in the news is a new special situations fund for Bain Capital and a Singapore developer pursuing a co-living strategy issues a profit warning.

Alibaba Logistics Arm Eyes Up to $2B Hong Kong IPO

Alibaba’s logistics arm aims to raise up to $2 billion via a listing in Hong Kong early next year, sources with knowledge of the matter said, bolstering hopes for a capital markets revival in the Asian financial hub.

Cainiao Network Technology’s initial public offering plan comes after Alibaba flagged in late March that it would split its business into six units and that most of them would explore capital raisings or market debuts to help fund future growth. Read more>>

Lendlease Global REIT Reports 99.8% Committed Occupancy

Singapore-listed Lendlease Global Commercial REIT on Tuesday reported a committed portfolio occupancy of 99.8 percent for the third quarter ended 31 March, unchanged from the previous quarter.

In a business update, the trust’s manager said the portfolio’s weighted average lease expiry for the period stood at 8.3 years by net lettable area and 5.4 years by gross rental income. Read more>>

Bain Capital Seeks to Raise $4B for New Global Special Situations Fund

Bain Capital is seeking to raise $4 billion for a new global “special situations fund” as the US firm sees an opportunity to snap up distressed and equity investments, two people familiar with the matter said.

Bain Capital kicked off the fundraising at the start of the year and has already raised about $2 billion for the new fund, said the sources, who requested anonymity because the discussions are confidential. Read more>>

Property Services Firm LHN Issues Profit Warning

Singapore-listed LHN expects to record a net profit before tax for the first half of 2023 of no less than S$19 million ($14.3 million), down from S$35.9 million in the year-earlier period.

The property services firm said the lower net profit before tax stems mainly from a fair value loss on investment properties. Read more>>

Shui On Land Focuses on Mainland China’s Affluent Regions for New Projects

Shui On Land remains focused on developing projects only in prime locations of Shanghai and other affluent regions on the mainland as the Hong Kong-listed developer de-risks its portfolio.

Stephanie Lo, an executive director of Shui On, told the South China Morning Post that despite opportunities in distressed property assets, the company will not get involved unless the price and quality of the unfinished projects are extremely attractive. Read more>>

China Property Bonds’ Road to Recovery Fraught With Risks

Battered Chinese property bonds have a long way to go before they recover from the mauling they received in the aftermath of Beijing’s “three red lines” policy, because of risks like drawn-out restructurings, uncertain cash flows and tectonic shifts in the sector, Allianz Global Investors’ top fixed-income official in Asia Pacific warned.

The gloomy outlook is exacerbated by the expectation of sustained volatility in global financial markets, which would force investors to focus on risk control rather than attempt opportunistic, short-term trades, said Jenny Zeng, AllianzGI’s chief investment officer for fixed income in Asia, who oversees $6 billion in assets. Read more>>

Singapore Firms Scramble to Soften Blow of Soaring Rent Costs

Companies in Singapore are partially paying housing costs of employees and even relocating staff to cheaper neighbouring cities to help them tackle home rents that rose last year at their fastest rate in 15 years.

But with private housing rents in Singapore maintaining the scorching pace of gains in 2023, those steps are likely falling short, forcing expatriate workers to even consider leaving the city for good. Read more>>

Land Acquisition Frenzy Continues in India Amid Data Centre Deals

Indian developers’ post-COVID focus on land acquisition shows no signs of slowing down, with prime land parcels being targeted across India for various types of developments.

Anarock data indicates that in fiscal year 2022-23, 87 separate land deals were sealed to account for more than 1,862 acres (753.5 hectares). In contrast, the previous year saw 44 land deals accounting for 1,649 acres across various cities. Read more>>

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