In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, Mapletree Logistics Trust plans to raise some quick cash from the disposal of two warehouses in Malaysia, where the state’s largest pension fund is also eyeing asset sales.

Mapletree Logistics Trust to Divest Two Warehouses in Malaysia

Mapletree Logistics Trust’s manager announced Friday that the REIT will be divesting two warehouses in Malaysia worth a total of MYR 50.2 million ($11.6 million) to Sigma Warehousing.

The consideration is 6.1 percent higher than the latest aggregate valuation for both properties as of 1 October 2022. The manager has also waived the one-off disposal fee of 0.5 percent of the sale price. Read more>>

Malaysia’s EPF to Sell More Than $115M in Education Assets

Malaysia’s largest state pension fund, the Employees Provident Fund, is looking to sell local education assets worth over MYR 500 million ($115 million), two sources with knowledge of the matter told media.

EPF, which is also one of the world’s biggest pension funds with total assets of MYR 1.01 trillion, is looking to sell assets held by its Malaysian education property trust, Alpha REIT, which it is winding up, the sources added. Read more>>

House Price Slump in China Shows No Sign of Abating

China’s new home prices fell for a 16th straight month in December, easing by 0.25 percent, with analysts forecasting persistent weakness in the nation’s residential property market for the foreseeable future.

Of the 70 large and medium-sized cities tracked in the mainland, 55 recorded a decline in home prices, an increase of four compared with the previous month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. In the secondary housing market, prices retreated in 63 cities, up from 62 in November. Read more>>

Fantasia Eyes $4B Restructuring With Debt-to-Equity Swap, New Dollar Bonds

Debt-laden Chinese developer Fantasia Holdings proposed a restructuring that would give it two to six-and-a-half years of breathing room, thanks to a debt-to-equity swap and the conversion to longer-term, lower-coupon bonds.

The offer includes swapping $1.3 billion out of the company’s total of $4.018 billion in offshore bonds into Fantasia shares, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange late Sunday. Read more>>

Twitter’s Potential Exit From CapitaGreen to Have ‘Immaterial’ Impact on Revenue

Twitter’s potential exit from its office space at Singapore’s CapitaGreen will have an “immaterial” impact on CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust’s portfolio revenue, the REIT said Friday in response to queries from the Business Times.

Based on reports from 2015, Twitter holds an office space of 22,000 square feet (2,044 square metres) in CapitaGreen, a 40-storey Grade A office tower located in the central business district. The company had reportedly expanded, leasing an additional floor in the building in the fourth quarter of 2021. Read more>>

Schroders Gets Nod to Set Up China Fund Unit as Beijing Speeds Approvals

Schroders has obtained Chinese regulatory approval to set up a wholly owned mutual fund unit in China, as Beijing accelerates opening up its giant financial sector to foreigners.

China abruptly dismantled its strict, three-year zero-COVID policy in early December, and the government has apparently stepped up efforts to woo foreign companies and investors to aid an economic recovery. Read more>>

The Lure of Singapore: Chinese Flock to ‘Asia’s Switzerland’

Shortly after opening its doors on a Tuesday morning in mid-December, the Rolls-Royce showroom in Singapore’s Redhill neighbourhood was already bustling. US-China tensions remain high, financial markets are skittish, the risk of global recession looms heavily: it is the perfect time to put down an $80,000 deposit on a hot pink Phantom.

The number of Rolls-Royce cars registered in Singapore surged in 2021 and remained at record levels in 2022 — waiting lists for the cars now stretch into years. One type of buyer dominates. For the cars that leave the forecourt, a predictable future in the city-state awaits — shuttling the short routes between the mansions and apartments of Sentosa and other pockets of extreme wealth to luxury shopping malls, the discreet offices of their family funds and the private clubs of Orchard. According to employees at the showroom, the new buyers are overwhelmingly Chinese. Read more>>

China’s Junk Bonds Are Suddenly the World’s Hottest Credit Trade

As the meltdown of China’s property sector pushed developers into default and drove the prices of their bonds to pennies on the dollar, hedge funds and other buyers of troubled assets swooped in to make a bet that Beijing would ultimately step in to stem the crisis.

The wager is starting to pay off big. Read more>>

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