Vnet has more than 50 data centres in 30 Chinese cities
Vnet, a mainland data centre operator backed by Blackstone has received its third buyout offer this year, with that proposal leading the region’s real estate news today. Also in the headlines, data from August shows home sales and prices continuing to slide, with local governments apparently receiving the green light from Beijing to further loosen restrictions on home sales.
Founder Offers Buyout of Blackstone-Backed China Data Centre Operator
Vnet founder Josh Sheng Chen has made an offer to buy the Chinese data center firm. The company said this past week that it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter from its founder and executive chairman of the Board, Josh Sheng Chen, proposing to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the company.
Chen is proposing $8.20 in cash per American depositary share, or approximately $1.3667 per ordinary share. Vnet stock is currently around $6; the company’s stock has jumped since the news and Vnet is now valued at around $900 million. Read more>>
China’s Property Sector Slowed Further in August
Woes in China’s property market worsened in August, with official data showing home prices, sales and investment all falling in August, as a mortgage boycott and developers’ financial strains further hurt confidence in the sector.
New home prices resumed their month-on-month decline in August, down 0.3 per cent, Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed, dragged down by weak demand in smaller cities amid persistently slow deliveries by heavily-indebted developers. Prices were unchanged in June and July. Read more>>
Guangzhou Allows Home Price Discounts Up to 20%
Guangzhou has permitted developers to slash sale prices of homes by as much as 20 per cent, the first among China’s four top-tier cities to be allowed such dramatic discounting, as tepid demand plagues even the country’s economically most vibrant cities.
Over 200 cities, mostly small and mid-sized cities, have taken steps to boost fragile demand this year, including subsidies, smaller down payments, cuts in mortgage interest rates and allowing bigger mortgages. Read more>>
Suzhou Allows Non-Residents to Buy Homes
Suzhou, a Chinese city near Shanghai, is now allowing people who are not registered residents in the municipality to buy property without any restrictions, in the latest relaxation of curbs to boost a sluggish real estate market, local real estate agents told Yicai Global.
Real estate agents are now able to sell property to people who are non-resident in Suzhou as long as it is their first home in the city, a local real estate agent said, adding that there has not been an official government announcement yet. Read more>>
Singapore Hotel Purchased for Conversion to Co-Living Facility
Coliwoo, a co-living unit of Singapore’s LHN Group, has agreed to buy a Pasir Panjang property for S$30 million ($21 million), as the group eyes an expansion of its co-living portfolio in Singapore.
Announcing this in a bourse filing on Friday (Sep 16), the real estate management services company said the 404 Pasir Panjang Road property, which currently operates as Pasir Panjang Inn, a small hotel, will be turned into a co-living space. Read more>>
Tender for Singapore’s Trendale Tower Closes Without a Sale
The collective sale tender for freehold residential site Trendale Tower, which was put up for sale at a guide price of S$178 million, closed on Tuesday (Sep 13) without any bids. The Business Times (BT) understands, however, that the sellers are in talks with some parties for private treaty negotiations.
The site was put up for sale by exclusive marketing agent Savills in August for S$178 million, which works out to S$2,386 per square foot per plot ratio after factoring in the 7 per cent bonus gross floor area (GFA) for balconies. The development charge payable for the 7 per cent bonus GFA is about S$6.4 million. Read more>>
Changsha Office Tower Consumed by Fire
A massive fire engulfed a high-rise office building in downtown Changsha, capital of China’s southern province of Hunan, on Friday afternoon (Sep 16).
The blaze broke out in the 42-storey China Telecom building. “Thick smoke billowed from the site, and dozens of floors burned ferociously,” state broadcaster CCTV reported. Read more>>
Fosun Boss Vows to Sue Bloomberg for ‘Misleading’ Report
The chairman of the Chinese consumer group Fosun, Guo Guangchang, said on Weibo on Thursday that the group will sue Bloomberg for its report claiming that Chinese regulators had asked banks to examine their financial exposure to Fosun. Bloomberg reported on September 13 that “Chinese authorities have told the nation’s biggest banks and state-owned firms to start a round of checks on their financial exposure to Fosun.”
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, claimed that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission had told commercial banks to check their exposure to Fosun debt and understand potential liquidity risks. Read more>>
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