Lee Garden Three in the Causeway Bay area, Hong Kong (Image: Google Map)
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has relinquished a floor in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, with that story leading Mingtiandi’s headline roundup today. Also in the news, data centre group Equinix announces its first long-term renewable energy deal in Asia Pacific and troubled developer Oceanwide is removed from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Goldman Gives Up Space in Hong Kong Tower Amid Office Slump
Goldman Sachs has given up some office space in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest setback to the city’s commercial real estate market as global banks trim space to save costs.
The investment bank is relinquishing a floor in Lee Garden Three in the Causeway Bay area, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Goldman Sachs leased five floors in the building for its back office in 2018. Read more>>
Equinix Signs First Power Purchase Agreement in Asia Pacific
US data centre company Equinix has announced its first long-term renewable energy agreement in the Asia Pacific region, as co-location providers and hyperscalers sign contracts to green their electricity supply.
On Wednesday, the world’s biggest co-location data centre provider announced that it has signed a power purchase agreement with clean energy producer TagEnergy to buy 151 megawatts of wind energy from the $3 billion Golden Plains Wind Farm (East) project in the Australian state of Victoria. Read more>>
Debt-Stricken Oceanwide Booted Off Shenzhen Bourse
Debt-ridden Oceanwide Holdings, which once had a market valuation of over RMB 100 billion ($13.9 billion), was removed from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday, becoming the first Chinese real estate company to be delisted this year.
Oceanwide’s stock price tumbled to under RMB 1 on 20 January and then failed to rise above RMB 1 again, triggering the Shenzhen bourse’s delisting conditions. Read more>>
AirTrunk Signs 30MW Solar Power Purchase Agreement in Malaysia
APAC data centre firm AirTrunk has signed a power purchase agreement to procure renewable energy in Malaysia.
The company this week announced that it had signed a virtual PPA with renewable energy developer IB Vogt under Malaysia’s Corporate Green Power Programme. Read more>>
India’s Gautam Adani Rebounds From Hindenburg Attack, Returns to $100B Club
One year ago, a spectacular David and Goliath battle shook corporate India when a tiny American firm took on one of the world’s richest infrastructure tycoons.
Hindenburg Research published a blistering report in January 2023, accusing Gautam Adani, then Asia’s richest man, of engaging in fraud over decades. Hindenburg said it had taken a short position in his companies, meaning it would benefit if their shares fell. Read more>>
A 99% Bond Wipeout Hands Hedge Funds a Harsh Lesson on China
From afar, China Evergrande had all the makings of a killer distressed-debt trade: $19 billion in defaulted offshore bonds; $242 billion in assets; and a government that appeared determined to prop up the country’s faltering property market. So US and European hedge funds piled into the debt, envisioning big payouts to juice their returns.
What they got instead over the course of the next two years is a harsh lesson in the dangers of trying to bargain with the Communist Party. The talks are now dead — a Hong Kong court has ordered Evergrande’s liquidation, and the bonds are nearly worthless, trading in secondary markets at just 1 cent on the dollar. Read more>>
Bitera Data Centre in Jakarta Launches Operations
The Bitera data centre in Jakarta has commenced operations after successful testing. The facility has 20 megawatts of IT capacity across 8,600 square metres (92,570 square feet) of colocation space, enough to house 4,000 racks.
The Bitera data centre spans nine stories and has been certified as Tier III by the Uptime Institute. It also holds certifications from ISO 27001 and expects to have TCCF certification by the end of this month. Read more>>
YTL REIT Buying Ipoh Hotel for $11.5M
Malaysia’s YTL REIT is acquiring the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh, Perak from Syuen Hotel Bhd for MYR 55 million ($11.5 million).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, YTL-REIT said the 13-storey stand-alone hotel building had 290 rooms and ceased operations in May 2020. It was categorised as a four-star hotel. Read more>>
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