ASIA
In China:
- This comes as Australian coal imports are still being blocked and the number of coal ships waiting on China’s coast has grown to over 80 ships.
In Japan:
- Gov. Kuroda reiterated the BOJ’s view that Japan’s economy is on track for a moderate recovery
- The restrictions in Tokyo are aimed at nightlife businesses and run through December 17th.
REIT Focus:
Mitsui Fudosan stated that it has offered $1.2 Billion to acquire Tokyo Dome. The stadium operator has faced recent pressure from activist investor Oasis Management, which has sought to remove board members and alter the management structure of the firm.
Europe
In Europe:
- The long-standing issues of fisheries, state aid and governance of the future relationship continued to hamper progress.
- EU countries are looking to reset trade relations with the incoming Biden administration with France and Germany leading efforts to make early contact incoming administration.
REIT Focus:
Investors globally have debated the future of office demand in a post pandemic world given the forced experiment of working from home (WFH) that many companies (i.e. tenants) globally have been forced into as a result of the various restrictions from COVID-19. Notwithstanding those uncertainties, earlier this month U.S. office REIT Paramount Group disclosed unsolicited interest from a private equity investor at a price well below consensus estimates for NAV that its board quickly dismissed. This week we saw Castellum, the Nordic region’s largest listed property company, launch an offer to acquire Entra SA, a €4.9 bn Norwegian listed office peer at a price slightly above its last ported NAV in a combination of cash and stock. Approximately 60% of Entra’s rents come from government tenants in Norway. Castellum is a €10.1 bn market cap diversified property company with holdings predominantly in Sweden that expanded recently into Denmark and Finland. Castellum’s offer follows an offer earlier in the week from SBB, a listed Swedish property company focused on social infrastructure real estate across the Nordics, including Norway. SBB’s offer was 3.6% lower than Castellum’s but had a higher percentage of cash (70% versus 15%).
North America
In the U.S.:
- . Meanwhile President Trump continued to call in question the legitimacy of the election and has yet to publicly concede.
- . Janet Yellen is seen as a pro-stimulus choice who could be confirmed easily.
- The uptick marked the second straight week of higher than expected claims.
REIT Focus
Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) and the Canada Pension Plan Investment board (CPP Investments) announced they have signed an agreement to purchase through a joint venture a 668,000-square-foot trophy office tower in Seattle for $625M.CPP Investments will own a 45% interest in the joint venture and Hudson Pacific will own 55% and act as general partner and as property, leasing and construction manager.
The views expressed in this update are as of the date of this blog entry. These views and any portfolio holdings discussed in the update are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. The adviser disclaims any duty to update these views, which may not be relied upon as investment advice. In addition, references to specific companies’ securities should not be regarded as investment recommendations or indicative of the Adelante products, strategies, or portfolios.