〈Macau Post, Jan 27, 2017〉Hong Kong-based conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings Ltd has acquired a majority stake in a commercial development in Singapore for a total consideration of S$350 million (HK$1.92 billion/US$239.1 million), the company announced late on Wednesday night.

The statement reads that the company has purchased a 70 per cent interest in a commercial complex located at 111 Somerset Road, while the other 30 per cent stake in the project is held by Singapore-based Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd that Shun Tak describes as a ‘longstanding strategic partner in both its Tongzhou and Hengqin integrated projects’.

The complex, occupying a total gross floor area of some 766,550 square feet, will comprise a total net strata area of 572,000 square feet including 13 stories of office units, two stories of medical suites and office units, as well as two levels of retail podium, the statement reads.

According to Shun Tak, the property is currently undergoing a substantial asset enhancement program, which is expected to be completed by late next year or early 2019, while the retail portion of the property has been vacated for renovation and the offices are approximately 75 per cent leased.

‘The Group believes the Singapore office market will remain healthy in the medium to long run, backed by sound government policy and solid underlying fundamentals,’ the company said in the announcement, noting this investment opportunity offers ‘attractive return potentials and short payback period’.

In fact, this is the second property in Singapore acquired by the conglomerate in less than 12 months.

Last May, the company acquired a 25,741 square foot freehold site in the central business district in Singapore for a consideration of HK$835.2 million, for which a hotel development is planned.

〈China Daily, Jan 27, 2017〉While both global trade and China's economy enter 2017 with decent growth momentum, we expect GDP growth to ease to 6.3 percent this year due to a harsher climate for China's exports in the United States, slower real estate investment and, importantly, a change in tone of policymakers toward somewhat less emphasis on growth.

Despite uncertainties, indicators are good for reasonable growth, giving the nation's policymakers some leeway

While both global trade and China's economy enter 2017 with decent growth momentum, we expect GDP growth to ease to 6.3 percent this year due to a harsher climate for China's exports in the United States, slower real estate investment and, importantly, a change in tone of policymakers toward somewhat less emphasis on growth.

Real GDP growth edged up to 6.8 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2016 as services output momentum picked up. This brought whole-year GDP growth to 6.7 percent, down from 6.9 percent in 2015 but comfortably exceeding the 'bottom line' of the 6.5 to 7 percent target range.

However, this was at the cost of a further rise in leverage. Overall credit - total social financing excluding equity financing, but including local government bond issuance - grew 16.1 percent in 2016.

Rebalancing continued last year. With the service sector outpacing industry and price changes also in favor of services, its share in GDP climbed by 1.2 percentage points to 51.9 percent.

Investment momentum picked up in the fourth quarter of 2016, having weakened mid-year, with growth of fixed asset investment rising to 7.9 percent, supported by some improvement in corporate investment. Surprisingly, real estate fixed asset investment also accelerated again in the fourth quarter in spite of measures taken in large cities to contain housing price increases.

〈The Standard, Jan 25, 2017〉Tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung has given his private property The One - a top commercial site in Tsim Sha Tsui worth about HK$18 billion - to his wife Kimbie Chan Hoi-wan and their children.

"It was a gift to her and our two children," said Lau. "As my health has not been so good these past few years, I have to help them make preparations and prepare for the worst," he said in response to an inquiry from a newspaper.

"That's why I have recently given Ming-wai (Lau's son), Kimbie and our children assets worth more than HK$100 billion so that they have something to rely on."

Forbes Magazine ranks Lau, aged 65, as the fourth-richest person in Hong Kong with a net worth of US$15.1 billion or about HK$117 billion. Lau is the controlling shareholder of Chinese Estates. Annual rental income of The One in 2013 was HK$352 million.

Kimbie Chan in response to an inquiry: "I would like to thank Mr Lau. Mr Lau and I will be staying in Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year. Mr Lau's health is very good and thank you for your care." The One, opened in 2010, is a 23-story shopping mall at 100 Nathan Road. Before The One was built, the site was home to a commercial property called Tung Ying Building built in 1965.

Chinese Estates acquired the property during the down-cycle in 2003 for $1.1 billion and invested $2.5 billion to rebuild the property into The One.

In December 2014, Chinese Estates sold The One to Lau in a deal worth $7.78 billion and said the firm intended to pay most the proceeds as a special dividend to shareholders.

〈The Standard, Jan 25, 2017〉Hainan Airline’s parent company, HNA Holding Group Co Limited, has acquired a third parcel of a land at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak, the site of the former Hong Kong international airport, for HK$5.53 billion, according to a report from South China Morning Post.

The company – an industrial conglomerate operating hotels, golf courses and infrastructure – bought the property through its subsidiary, Top Genius Holdings, bringing up its total investment in Kai Tak land plots in the past three months to HK$20 billion, notes the publication.

HNA is one of many interested buyers in the area, including gaming operator Galaxy’s founder Lui Chee-woo. HNA’s purchase represents a 27 per cent increase on the HK$10,220 per square foot price paid in December by Lui Chee-woo’s K Wah International, when the company acquired its second parcel at Kai Tak. HNA paid HK$13,000 per square foot.

The Mainland Chinese company now owns the equivalent of 1.5 million square feet of residential gross floor area in the site that is to be transformed into Hong Kong’s second business district.

The HNA Group continued to expand its portfolio in the asset management business this month by acquiring a majority stake in SkyBridge Capital, an alternative investment firm with US$12 billion (MOP96 billion) in assets under management or advising, founded and co-managed by an adviser to U.S President Donald Trump, Anthony Scaramucci. S.Z.

〈China Daily, Jan 24, 2017〉A controversial move by the Macao SAR government to reclaim plots of land granted to builders, but had not been utilized on expiry of their leases, has triggered outrage among Hong Kong developers.

Hong Kong property developers and investors alike have closed ranks, slamming Macao’s new Land Law and its implementation as unjust and unfair, and even a breach of the city’s Basic Law, as the undeveloped plots are being taken back after their leases expired.

Land concessionaires have pointed the finger squarely at the Macao government, alleging it’s wholly responsible for their inability to develop the land that had been lying idle for years. The argued that the government’s failure to follow through on its urban development plans or build the basic infrastructure had caused their projects to be stalled until the land leases ran out.

Supporters of Macao’s move insisted that the 25 years stipulated was sufficient enough for land development, saying Macao could not have violated the Basic Law since the new land law had already been submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Standing (NPC) — the country’s top legislative body — for record.

The Macao SAR’s new Land Law, which was passed in 2013 and enacted a year later, stipulates that the government is entitled to reclaiming lands that concessionaires have failed to develop when the 25-year concessionary period is up, with no extension to be granted.