Keppel's Singapore REIT to buy $800M portfolio from KBS Strategic Opportunity | Traders sell US debt, buy other sovereign bonds | Owners of Uniqlo, Victoria's Secret to invest in apparel maker's IPO
October 17, 2017
The daily source on REITs and real estate investment
Singapore-based Keppel Corp. will launch a new REIT on the Singapore exchange that will acquire 11 office properties in the US from KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT. KBS has valued the portfolio, which has not identified the assets that will move to Keppel, at $800 million, according to a regulatory filing in Israel.
Bond markets took a cue from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's speech at the Group of 30's annual International Banking Seminar, prompting a surge in global sovereign bonds and a decline in US Treasurys. Yellen reiterated the Fed's commitment to raising interest rates on pace with US economic growth, despite lagging inflation.
Hong Kong-based clothing supplier Crystal International Group aims to raise up to $574 million in an initial public stock offering. Fashion retailers including the parents of Victoria's Secret and Uniqlo have agreed to buy stock in the IPO, according to deal documents.
Surging demand in the corporate credit market is prompting investment banks to issue innovative derivatives products such as total return swaps, involving increasingly complex bond combinations.
European companies are seeking to refinance debt to close out 2017, after a banner year for the leveraged loan market. Altice, HomeVi and SFR are among the companies pursuing bond refinancing deals.
Student housing investment sales are starting to accelerate after a slow start at the beginning of the year, positioning 2017 to reach the record-breaking volumes of last year. "Most believe that fourth quarter closings will bring total investment sales activity to $8 billion or more for 2017," says Fred Pierce, president and CEO of Pierce Education Properties.
Asking rents for industrial space in New Jersey rose 11.8% year over year in the third quarter to $7.09 per square foot, according to JLL. Tenant demand is outpacing the supply coming online, causing rents to jump.
HCR ManorCare has until Wednesday to respond to a court deadline in a lawsuit in which its landlord Quality Care Properties alleges it owes more than $300 million in rent. Quality Care is seeking a court-appointed receiver that will replace management.
Kroger has made significant investments in technology through its data and analytics arm 84.51˚, where a staff of developers, scientists, engineers and other tech workers use shopper data to bring the grocery store into the digital era. The effort has resulted in tech tools including mobile apps offering personalized promotions and shopping lists populated with recipes, augmented-reality apps that let store managers monitor how products are selling in real time and sensors that take stock of how many customers are in a store and assign checkout clerks based on the number.
The National Retail Federation and other trade groups are backing efforts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement to meet the needs of today's global supply chains, but they are concerned that some US proposals will do more harm than good, writes NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "[A] flawed NAFTA modernization could significantly impact US consumers by increasing prices and limiting the choice and availability of products ranging from apparel and electronics to fresh fruits and vegetables," he writes.
