30 September 2000
Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corporation lists next Thursday after Hong Kong’s most heavily subscribed float yet. Three of the biggest local developers, Li Ka-shing and the Cheung Kong group, Henderson Land and Sun Hung Kai Properties, subscribed for a total 13% between them in the company, of which 20% has been offered to the public in the first tranche.
Hong Kong property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties reported a $HK10.8 billion profit in the year to June, up 17%.
Lend Lease Corporation and the East Asia Property Group have sold the almost-completed 49,000m² Aurora Place tower in Sydney to the Commonwealth Bank’s Commonwealth Property Investment Trust for $A485 million. The trust takes over responsibility for the 20% of leasing yet to be done and the $A35 million of incentives to tenants. Fully leased completion value is put at $A520 million. The trust raised $A350 million of equity from eight investors and super funds.
Dutch investor Rodamco will become the third largest mall owner in the US after agreeing to pay $US3.4 billion, a 25% premium over market price, for Urban Shopping Centers of Chicago. One beneficiary is likely to be Westfield America, which has been trading at a 9% discount.
29 September 2000
Keep up with the play and keep your staff happy, says Equity Office Properties Trust. Proud to have been ranked 13th in a top-25 list of the best places to work in Chicago, the biggest property owner in the US is also rated by BusinessWeek magazine as one of the top 50 companies “transforming inspiration and new resources into gold.” As landlords race to retrofit, Equity Office rates ahead of everyone in providing web access, equipping all 381 of its buildings with two or more high-speed internet providers. Small and midsized tenants make up 75% of the trust’s rent roll.
28 September 2000
Japanese general contractor Hazama has won agreement from its bankers to forgive one-quarter of its debt — up to ¥100 billion. Hazama still has a way to go to survive — its debt is 139 times equity. Big international contractor Kumagai Gumi has asked its bankers to forgive ¥450 billion of debt and Osaka builder Daisui sought forgiveness this week for ¥64 billion of debt.
The Hong Kong Government’s fourth residential site auction this financial year, on 5 October, will be an effective gauge of the city’s property market, with three sites expected to return up to $HK1.8 billion. Analysts have priced the biggest lot, 275,881ft² with a floor-area ratio of 3:1, at $HK3300-3900/ft².
CapitaLand, the company formed out the takeover of DBS Land by Pidemco,s both controlled by the Singapore Government, has downgraded the role of DBS Land president Ed Ng, headhunted only in April. He’ll now head the group’s commercial and property fund management units. Most of the board are from the Pidemco side.
25 September 2000
Jurong Town Centre in Singapore has a $S1 billion, 35ha industrial park on the drawing board at Tampines South for the manufacture of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays. It is near two wafer-fabrication plants. All sites in Jurong’s 125ha Tuas View Pharmaceutical Park 1 are committed and 200ha of reclaimed land will be turned into a second pharmaceutical park. The fourth phase of reclamation at Jurong Island will add 550ha for the chemical industry, including an integrated logistics hub. Jurong is also working on a logistics park at Changi.
20 September 2000
Australian builder Multiplex has won the contract to redevelop Wembley Stadium in London, within a fortnight of its joint bid with Bovis Lend Leases being rejected. The joint venture started at £390 million, dropped back to £347 million but was still far too high. Multiplex came in alone at £326.6 million. It’s a similar scene (on a grander scale and without the joint venture), to Multiplex’s New Zealand entry, where the locals turned down a deal with Andrew Krukziener for his Metropolis tower, Multiplex accepted the price and has quickly gone on to become a significant force.
Macquarie Direct Property has bought two North Sydney office blocks, one from the BT Office Trust, for $50 million for its sixth syndicate. The deals were at 10.75% for the BT property, which has a 2003 lease expiry, and 9%.
19 September 2000
Maroochy Shire Council has rejected a Forrester Kurts master plan for an $A250 million, 310ha subdivision north-west of Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, called Peregian Springs, raising environmental concerns. Forrester Kurts had cut the number of proposed lots from 3600 to 1700.
15 September 2000
A newcomer in Australian property, First State Developments, will pay $A19 million for the 91ha Wise family farm at Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast after an $A1 billion mixed-use deal fell over.
It’s kumara-sucking time at the movies: After Force Corp announced its $7 million loss for the year, the Australian trust that no longer wants to buy its Force Entertainment Centre on Auckland’s Queen St, the MTM Entertainment Trust headed by former St Lukes Group managing director Andrew Bennett, has declared an $A29.6 million loss. Its main tenant, Cinema Plus, was placed under statutory control and Imax took over operations in Australia. Force has conditionally taken over the Imax lease in Auckland. Valuations of three of its Australian properties were halved.
13 September 2000
Ariadne Australia has trebled profit in the June year to $A3.18 million after bumping sales up from $A31 million to $A67 million. Ariadne had a one-third stake in the new Sebel in Noosa, where 112 units were sold off the plans for $A72 million in January last year.
Daikyo sold the Gold Coast International Hotel to interests associated with a former director seven years ago for $A85 million, and has bought it back for $A46 million. Daikyo is a condominium developer in Japan and $A1 billion investor in Australia. Its latest deal rates the 296-room hotel at $A155,405 a room.
12 September 2000
Equity Office Trust has bought the World Trade Centre East in Seattle for $US38.7 million, of which about $US½ million is cash. The trust will pay down $US31.3 million in debt, and issue units for the rest to the World Trade Centre company. The six-storey, 17,370m² building has one tenant, a Microsoft company, and is part of a three-building complex. Its basement parking is owned separately by the Port of Seattle.
8 September 2000
Sun Hung Kai Properties has won the phase 2 development contract for the Kowloon Station area on Hong Kong’s airport railway line with an $HK6.8 billion bid. Shops, offices, flats and hotels are being built along the rail link. Sun Hung Kai also won phase 3 and is eyeing 20ha of reclaimed land beside Kowloon Station for a $HK25 billion development. That reclaimed area is a fraction bigger the Auckland’s former central railyards.
Singapore Government-controlled Pidemco Land has paid $S140 million for 11 floors of Shinjuku Square Tower in Tokyo, after entering the Japanese market with a residential investment. Pidemco says Tokyo commercial land prices have halved since the early 90s, but rents and occupancy rates started rising six months ago. This deal gives Pidemco 11,150m² (120,000ft²) at $S12,556/m².
Shell Oil and the P & O shipping line will turn the former Shell Haven refinery in Essex into Britain’s largest container port, covering 600ha and creating 10,000 jobs to handle up to 3.5 million 20ft equivalent units (teus) a year. Britain’s biggest container port, at Felixstowe, is owned by Hutchison Whampoa and handles 2.7 million teus a year.
Logistics company Strang International will build a speculative $A90 million, 25,000m² of office space in two 10-storey towers near Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport at Mascot. It is 150m from the new Mascot station, next to Qantas’ headquarters and has two international hotels, the Parkroyal and Ibis, as other near-neighbours.
MTM Funds Management, headed by former St Lukes managing director Andrew Bennett, says it has legal advice that 75% support instead of the usual 50% will be needed to remove it as manager of the MTM Office Trust. Kerry Packer-controlled Cavalane holds 23% and ANZ Bank 30% of the trust, which would otherwise have been enough to tip management over to James Fielding Investments, set up by Paladin founder Greg Paramor and Rod Leaver.
New South Wales Supreme Court judge David Hodgson has found no grounds to wind up Exben, the holding company of Transfield Holdings. Marco Belgiorno-Zegna is trying to get his share out of Transfield, ending a family feud between him, his father Franco Belgiorno-Nettis and his brothers.
4 September 2000
UK airports are on the move, out of the hands of their short-term private owners. National Express’ desire to get rid of its two airports, East Midland and Bournemouth, has been widely known for months but the company is expected to take them to auction with a price target around £200 million. Stagecoach iz said to be looking for a buyer for Prestwick in Scotland, FirstGroup wants to sell its 51% of Bristol International and TBI, an airports and property group, is a takeover target.
Rank Group will be left with the Hard Rock Café franchise, a film copying business and its British gaming subsidiary, headed by Mecca Bingo, after the expected sale of its 85-pub Tom Cobleigh chain to private equity company Electra Partners for £90 million. Rank has already sold its Odeon cinema chain, nightclubs, Pinewood film studios, and its half of the Universal Studios theme park in Florida. Sale of Rank’s British holiday business to Bourne Leisure Group for £500 million is well advanced. Among its assets is the famous Butlins chain, nowadays a struggling lossmaker.
2 September 2000
The Stockland Trust Group has bid $A1.73 for Advance Property Fund, 9c more than Mirvac. St George Bank said it would sell its 19% to Stockland, collecting 5% of Stockland and $A35
million in cash if the deal succeeds. Mirvac has not expressed a view on its next move.
