Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama leads today’s headline roundup by pushing the $1.8 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund to increase its investment in domestic assets. Also in the news, HSBC begins marketing $3.5 billion in troubled Hang Seng Bank property loans and Aw & Sons Capital buys a pair of Singapore shophouses for $32 million.

Japan Pushes $1.8 Trillion GPIF Fund to Boost Domestic Assets

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday that the government is encouraging the Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s biggest pension fund, to increase its allocation to domestic assets. The fund held JPY 293.4 trillion ($1.8 trillion) in assets at the end of December.

The remarks sent the yen and Japanese government bonds higher, with the yen rising 0.6 percent to 161.4 per dollar and benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yields dropping 10 basis points to 2.775 percent. Ryutaro Kimura, a senior fixed-income strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said the comments appeared aimed at restraining yields rather than signalling immediate action. Read more>>

HSBC Markets $3.5B in Troubled Hang Seng Property Loans

UK-based HSBC has begun marketing troubled commercial property loans held by Hang Seng Bank to outside investors, according to people familiar with the matter. The move follows HSBC’s completion of a full take-private of the Hong Kong lender earlier this year.

More than half of HSBC’s stage-three commercial property loans in Hong Kong, credit impaired debt unlikely to be repaid in full, sat within Hang Seng at the end of last year, totalling roughly $3.5 billion out of $6.3 billion overall. One person said private debt funds would likely demand steep discounts. Read more>>

Aw & Sons Capital Buys Singapore Shophouses for $32M

A vehicle linked to Aw & Sons Capital has acquired a pair of freehold shophouses on Neil Road in Singapore for S$40.88 million ($31.6 million). The seller was an entity linked to Italian aristocrat and property investor Luca Padulli.

The amalgamated property at 136 and 138 Neil Road is mostly occupied by the Goethe Institut, a German cultural body, and sits on a 3,627 square foot (337 square metre) site. The price works out to S$3,580 per square foot based on a gross floor area of 11,428 square feet. Read more>>

Allianz Returns as Anchor Tenant at Redeveloped Shaw Tower

Germany’s Allianz will return as anchor tenant at the redeveloped Shaw Tower in Singapore, taking 78,000 square feet (7,246 square metres), or nearly 18 percent of lettable office space at the 33-storey tower. The insurer and asset manager is relocating from CapitaSky, where it occupies 88,000 square feet.

Lendlease, which manages the asset at 100 Beach Road, announced on 6 July that the tower had secured its temporary occupation permit, marking the completion of Singapore’s only Grade A commercial development this year. Other tenants include Adyen, Sanofi, BeOne Medicines and co-working operator Industrious. Read more>>

Mitsui Fudosan to Build $1.4B London Rental Lab Complex

Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan plans to break ground as early as September on its first European rental lab, a roughly £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) project at London’s British Library site in King’s Cross, the company told Nikkei Asia. Completion is slated for 2032, with Mitsui developing an 11-storey, one-basement mixed-use building through a wholly owned subsidiary combining rental lab space with library operations, offices and retail.

The facility will be designed with Link J, a roughly 1,000-member research organisation that Mitsui established, which includes the Francis Crick Institute. Mitsui also said US biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals has committed to tenancy at its rental laboratory facility in Boston, slated for completion in fiscal 2026. Read more>>

APA Group Acquires Kimpton La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood

Japan’s APA Hotel has completed the acquisition of the 105-room Kimpton La Peer hotel in West Hollywood, California through its wholly owned subsidiary APA Hotel USA, the company said. The deal closed on 7 July, with the property to be renamed Kimpton La Peer West Hollywood.

IHG Hotels & Resorts will continue to operate the property, and APA said it is exploring joint development of Kimpton-branded hotels in Japan with IHG. The acquisition marks the first move under APA’s new five-year plan, AIM5 II, targeting expansion across North America. Read more>>

Deloitte to Relocate Singapore Base to Orchard Central by 2027

Deloitte plans to move from its Shenton Way premises at OUE Downtown to Orchard Central after its current lease expires at the end of 2026. The consultancy currently occupies 150,000 square feet (13,936 square metres) across 11 floors at OUE Downtown.

As an interim step, Deloitte will relocate staff in September to 64,000 square feet of new co-working space run by JustCo at the former OG Orchard Point building, before taking several upper floors at Far East Organization’s Orchard Central in 2027. Deloitte was OUE REIT’s top tenant in the first quarter, the trust said. Read more>>

Lai Sun Cuts Debt by $255M After Bond Exchange Success

Hong Kong’s Lai Sun Development has completed a dollar bond exchange offer and consent solicitation with more than 96 percent bondholder support, the company said. Lai Sun repaid 30 percent of the participating principal, or HK$1.12 billion ($143 million), in cash out of a total of $477 million.

The remaining principal will be exchanged for new notes maturing in three years, on 28 July 2029. Combined with bank loan repayments from last month’s sale of the 3 Connaught Road Central project, the company said it has cut total liabilities by HK$2 billion. Read more>>

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