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When Credit Suisse Balked, Nomura Pounced on Big Loan Deal
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Crackdown on risky loans said to deter Credit Suisse
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Japanese bank recovering ground in leveraged loan business
When private equity firm Hellman & Friedman proposed a $3.4 billion refinancing for Kronos Inc., a workforce management company, you might think much of Wall Street would line up to handle the deal.
Except it didn’t.
The job instead went to Nomura Holdings Inc., the biggest loan deal that the Japanese bank has snared in the U.S. as it tries to muscle into the market. It marked a significant coup for a bank that just six months ago purged some senior members of its leveraged finance team in an effort to stem losses…
Dermody Properties Develops Industrial Facility in Cincinnati
Posted by: | CommentsSomeone Just Made a Big Bullish Bet on This U.K. Equity ETF
Posted by: | CommentsThe largest daily inflow in 16 months.
While sterling and U.K. government bond markets have staged a synchronized sell-off this week, some investors are placing big bets that stocks will continue their ascent.
On Tuesday, the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, the largest U.S.-listed U.K. exchange-traded fund (ETF), received $96 million in inflows, the largest daily inflow in 16 months…
China’s Cooling Property Market May Risk Economic Growth
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High-profile tightening reverses two years of easing cycle
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A property downturn increases potential for a hard-landing
Actions by China’s policy makers to rein in property prices in the bubble-prone nation may prove so effective that the economy’s growth rate could be affected next year.
At least 21 cities have introduced purchase restrictions and toughened mortgage lending since late September, reversing two years of easing to support home buyers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says more tightening is likely to follow if prices keep soaring, while Citigroup Inc. estimates shrinking demand may lead sales volume to contract in the fourth quarter…
Theranos Sued by Investor Who Accuses It of Securities Fraud
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A lawsuit names Elizabeth Holmes, founder and chief executive of Theranos, as a defendant. CreditCarlos Chavarria for The New York Times
Theranos, the beleaguered Silicon Valley blood-testing company, is being accused of securities fraud by a major investor who has sued contending “myriad deceptions, falsehoods and fraudulent conduct.”
Partner Fund Management, a San Francisco hedge fund, filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Delaware Court of Chancery, according to a letter sent to its investors.
The suit is under seal, but the fund confirmed in a statement that it was taking legal action against Theranos…
Porton Technology Center Opens in New Jersey
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Dr. Todd Nelson, Porton USA VP & PTC General Manager
Cranbury, N. J.—China-based Porton Fine Chemicals Ltd., a contract development and manufacturing organization, recently announced the opening of the new Porton Process Chemistry Technology Center (PTC) in Cranbury.
Situated off the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), the facility is in close proximity to many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. The PTC can be reached in approximately 45 minutes by road from Newark International Airport. In addition, the location also offers easy flight access to the innovation hotbeds of Boston and California.The new venture will serve the US biopharmaceutical industry offering services such as drug development and cross-lifecycle research, from a location that is convenient to East Coast and West Coast-based companies…
Tokyo Condo Prices May Fall 20%, Deutsche Says
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Mortage rate rises for two months after touching record low
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‘Collapse of this silent bubble has begun:’ Deutsche Bank
The Bank of Japan’s shift to controlling bond yields is driving up mortgage rates, prompting Deutsche Bank AG to predict Tokyo apartment prices may fall 20 percent or more by 2018.
The BOJ’s negative-rate policy was already hurting buyer sentiment, and its move to boost longer-term yields is a double-blow to the industry, according to Yoji Otani, a real estate analyst at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo. The 35-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed for two straight months after touching a record low of 0.9 percent in August, and sales of new condominiums in Tokyo this year have fallen to the lowest since the nation’s property bubble collapse in the early 1990s…
Greylock Partners Says It Raised a $1 Billion Fund
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James Slavet, co-managing partner at Greylock CreditSteve Jennings/Getty Images for Techcrunch
SAN FRANCISCO — Greylock Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, said it has raised a $1 billion fund as investors increase venture firm funding to highs not seen since the dot-com boom last decade.
It took less than three months for Greylock to raise its latest fund, the firm’s co-managing partner James Slavet said in an interview. Greylock, which was an early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn, now has $3.5 billion in assets under management…
Greylock Partners Says It Raised a $1 Billion Fund
NGKF to Handle Leasing at Baltimore’s 414 Light St. Tower
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414 Light St., Baltimore, rendering
Baltimore—NGKF has been appointed exclusive leasing agent for 414 Light St.’s retail space. The iconic 44-story mixed-use tower overlooking Inner Harbor is slated for completion by March 2018.
Owned by Questar Properties, the $160 million high-rise will bring 394 ultra-luxury multifamily units offering resort-style amenities and almost 21,000 square feet of retail space. The property will offer 12,300 square feet of ground-floor retail, with the possibility of an additional 8,000-square-foot mezzanine extension…
Deutsche Bank Said to Boost Private Bond Sale to $4.5 Billion
Posted by: | CommentsLess than a week after raising $3 billion in a private debt sale, Deutsche Bank AG returned for another $1.5 billion, offering yields that were more than twice what it paid to borrow a year ago.
The German lender issued the debt to mostly the same investors who bought last week’s offering, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. But it paid a slightly smaller premium this time around, with the deal priced at 290 basis points above borrowing benchmarks, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The premium on the Oct. 7 sale was 300 basis points…
Zymergen Raises $130 Million in New Round of Financing
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A store for the Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank in Tokyo. The company is leading the latest round of financing in the start-up Zymergen. CreditYoshikazu Tsuno/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO — Over its three-year life, Zymergen has focused on helping genetically engineer tiny microbes, while using advanced computing to help better automate the process.
Now the start-up has attracted a big round of financing to help expand its work.
Zymergen said late Monday that it had raised $130 million in its latest round, led by the Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank. The company also added two high-profile directors: Steven Chu, the former energy secretary, and Deep Nishar, a senior executive at SoftBank…
NorthStar Completes $370M in Portfolio Transactions
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Norwalk, Conn., data center—NorthStar Income II originated a $41 million senior loan for the property in 2014
New York—NorthStar Real Estate Income II Inc. has invested $370 million in two significant portfolio transactions—a portfolio of 39 industrial real estate properties and a portfolio of 41 institutional-quality private equity real estate funds.
More Americans Falling Behind on Car Loan Payments, S&P Says
Posted by: | CommentsSubprime borrowers are falling behind on their car loan payments at the highest rate in more than six years, and some bonds backed by these loans are vulnerable to getting downgraded, according to S&P Global Ratings.
Competition has spurred lenders to loosen standards and resulted in more delinquencies and default by people with weak credit, the ratings firm said. Subprime borrowers were behind by more than 60 days on about 4.85 percent of auto loans in August, the highest level since January 2010. The rate was 4.14 percent in August of last year, S&P said. For prime loans, delinquencies in August rose to 0.5 percent from 0.41 percent in the same month in 2015. The figures apply to loans that have been bundled into bonds…
LIFT and IACMI Invest $50M in Detroit Manufacturing Facility
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Manufacturing Day at the Corktown Facility
Detroit—Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) and The Composites Institute (IACMI) have announced a combined investment of roughly $50 million in their shared manufacturing scale-up facility located in Motor City’s Corktown district. In the following 24 months, the two institutes will purchase and install new equipment and improve existing infrastructure.
LIFT and IACMI are part of Manufacturing U.S.A., the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation program, and so, the investments will benefit various stakeholders. Institute members, partners and others in the industry will be able to conduct research and development projects, while students can learn more about the lightweight metals and advanced composites industries…
Hedge Fund Manager Lays Out His Simple Case for Why Twitter Will Still Get Sold
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a huge opportunity to slash costs.
Since the morning of Sept. 23, shares of social media platform Twitter Inc. have been trading almost solely based on expectations of imminent M&A activity.
By early October, reports of multiple interested suitors — including Alphabet Inc., Walt Disney Co., and salesforce.com Inc. — had helped shares of Twitter crack the $25 mark for the first time all year. News of a yawning gap between management’s longed-for sale price and that of the would-be purchasers, as well as reports that some potential bidders weren’t interested, soon brought the stock crashing back down to earth, however…
HFF Arranges $60M Refi for Charlotte-Area Retail Center
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Windsor Square Shopping Center
Charlotte, N.C.—Windsor Square Shopping Center in the Charlotte suburb of Matthews will benefit from a $60 million refinancing, arranged by HFF. Located approximately 10 miles from downtown Charlotte, near the Interstate 485 outer belt and Highway 51, Windsor Square Shopping Center reaches almost 320,000 residents living within a seven-mile radius.
HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Sterling Org. It secured the 10-year, fixed-rate loan through JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Loan proceeds were used to pay off a maturing CMBS loan…
Home Starts Jump Before Canada’s Tougher New Rules Take Hold
Posted by: | CommentsCanadian housing starts rose at the fastest pace in a year in September, with gains across most regions and categories in the last report before tougher federal mortgage rules to prevent a crash.
The annual pace of home starts was 220,617 on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 20 percent from August, Ottawa-based Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said Tuesday. The total was higher than all 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists that had a median of 190,000 units…
Home Starts Jump Before Canada’s Tougher New Rules Take Hold
Cooperman Says Omega’s Assets Fell to $4 Billion Amid Case
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Hedge fund manager says he’s prepared to run firm at a loss
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Says rejected SEC offer of about $8 million to settle the case
Leon Cooperman, the hedge-fund manager accused of insider trading, said Tuesday that his Omega Advisors Inc. will continue investing money for clients even as its assets have dropped to $4 billion.
“I have to make adjustments in the team but I’m prepared to run the business at a loss,” Cooperman said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’re not retiring, we’re not sending back the money.”…
Snooping in the Bathroom to Assess Credit Risk in China
Posted by: | CommentsExtensive consumer databases are not in place for lenders to check, but companies are scrambling to crack the credit code.
China wants to nurture a credit culture to get Chinese families spending instead of saving. Judging creditworthiness is sometimes done at a very grass-roots level.CreditMinh Uong/The New York Times
KUNSHAN, China — Banks and other lenders typically look at borrowers’ credit histories, tax forms and other financial information to determine whether they will get paid back. In China, lenders also look at their bathrooms.
Lenders have to be creative. As the economy slows, the government wants to nurture a credit culture to get Chinese families spending instead of saving…
Los Angeles County continues to have the lowest homeownership rate of any large metro area in the country. This is across all data. Los Angeles County has 10 million people while the larger LA-OC MSA includes 13 million since it brings in Orange County. Any way you slice the data, Los Angeles is simply not a friendly place to buy a home and the vast majority of people rent and spend a bank breaking amount per month on rents. There are cracks forming in the system where home sale volume is weak and prices are reaching a short-term apex. What is telling however is that the Great Recession officially ended in the summer of 2009 but the homeownership rate continues to decline for L.A….
Paul Singer Wants To Blow Up Samsung Like So Many Samsung Smartphones
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After victoriously taking on a sovereign nation with an imploding economy, Paul Singer is reportedly looking to stay sharp by taking on a quasi-sovereign electronics corporation with exploding phones.
Samsung Electronics Co. is being urged by activist investor Elliott Management Corp. to restructure a business that spans Galaxy smartphones, televisions, semiconductors, screen displays and other consumer electronics.
In a 10-page letter and 31-slide deck released publicly and to Samsung’s board on Wednesday, affiliates of Elliott — Blake Capital LLC and Potter Capital LLC — called on the company to streamline and separate into two, conduct a tender, dual-list its resulting operating company on a U.S. exchange such as Nasdaq, pay shareholders a special dividend of 30 trillion Korean won ($27 billion) as well as ongoing regular dividends, and improve governance by adding three independent board members, among other steps….
A Private Solution to Deutsche Bank’s Public Woes
Posted by: | CommentsDeutsche Bank’s sliding share price and capital shortfall call for some creative solutions. And they do not get much more out of the ordinary than an idea that Germany’s corporate titans might take stakes in the lender to help it manage the impact of a potential $14 billion fine from American regulators, as Handelsblatt reported on Oct. 6. It is a less nutty concept than it sounds.
CREG, USAA Sign Tenant for Large Maryland Distribution Facility
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Perryman Logistics Center, Aberdeen, Md.
Baltimore—Chesapeake Real Estate Group and USAA Real Estate Co. have recently signed a full-building, 571,000-square-foot lease with XPO Logistics at Perryman Logistics Center in Aberdeen, Md. CBRE’s Bill Pellington, Toby Mink and Jon Casella represented the owners.
The Aberdeen County warehouse/distribution building is located at 610 Chelsea Road, neighboring several large facilities occupied by Rite Aid, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Kenco Logistics Services and California-based beauty retailer Sephora. Sitting on a 48.4-acre lot, the e-commerce logistics firm’s new center is situated just 7.5 miles off Interstate 95, within 32 miles from the Port of Baltimore and 42 miles from the Baltimore-Washington International Airport…
Chinese Developers Tumble Most in Two Weeks on Property Curbs
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Poly Real Estate, Beijing Capital retreat to pace losses
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Shanghai becomes latest Chinese city to add to restrictions
Chinese property shares took their biggest beating in two weeks after authorities in more than a dozen cities imposed restrictions to curb surging prices during a week-long holiday for the financial markets.
Poly Real Estate Group Co. and Beijing Capital Development Co. lost at least 3.5 percent, dragging down a gauge of developers in Shanghai by 1.9 percent at the close, the most since Sept. 26. Shanghai’s housing commission announced over the weekend steps including increasing land supply and forbidding price increases in new home pre-sales without approval, as it joined other Chinese cities in a push to ensure the real estate market is stable…
WPT Industrial Closes $60M Deal
Posted by: | CommentsMomentum Is Seen Faltering for One of World’s Top Equity Rallies
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FTSE 100’s valuation about 30% greater than its 5-year average
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Benefits of lower pound are already priced in, UBS says
The biggest stock-market rally in the developed world is going to lose traction before the year is up.
So say all nine strategists tracked by Bloomberg, who on average predict a 5.9 percent drop in the FTSE 100 Index by December. A rebound in commodities and a slumping pound since the U.K.’s secession vote have spurred a 14 percent surge in 2016 for the gauge, whose members get most of their revenues from outside the country…
Indiana’s First Ikea Store to Open in 2017
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Architectural rendering of IKEA Fishers, Ind.Theranos Sued by Partner Fund Management Over Fraud Claims
Posted by: | CommentsTheranos Inc. and founder Elizabeth Holmes were sued by a hedge fund that said it was fraudulently induced to make an investment in the company.
Partner Investments LP filed a complaint Monday in Delaware Chancery Court to rescind its investment agreement. The suit follows the company’s announcement last week that it’s closing its blood-testing labs and firing 340 people…
Theranos Sued by Partner Fund Management Over Fraud Claims
First Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Opens in Hawaii
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Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Oahu KapoleiTribeca Office Building Commands $90M
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13-17 Laight St.
New York—The Vanbarton Group has acquired the former home of the Tribeca Film Festival, an 82,500-square-foot corner loft building in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, from a partnership between VE Equities and WhiteStar Advisors for $90 million.
Eastern Consolidated arranged the sale of 13-17 Laight St., and Ezratty procured the buyer.
“This is an exciting opportunity in the heart of Tribeca,” Roberto Ortiz, Eastern Consolidated senior director & principal, said in a prepared statement. “The property was delivered vacant and the buyers are planning to convert it into a high-end office building.”…
Takata Slumps as Bankruptcy Said to Be Weighed With Law Firm
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Air-bag maker says ensuring stable supply its top priority
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Talks on various options are ongoing, Takata says in statement
Takata Corp. fell as much as 11 percent in Tokyo trading after it was said to be considering bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The air-bag maker said no decision has been made.
Takata dropped 6.9 percent to 349 yen as of 9:41 a.m., headed for its biggest drop in three weeks. The Tokyo-based company, whose defective air-bag inflators triggered the biggest recall in auto industry history, hired Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP to help weigh options that could include bankruptcy or a sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter…
So Many Hedge Funds, So Little Alpha
Posted by: | CommentsScience fiction author William Gibson once observed that “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.”
The same can said for alpha, or the ability of money managers to deliver market-beating returns.
Reports of high fees and underperformance have long dogged the alternative investment world, mainly private-equity, venture-capital and especially hedge funds. Last year, returns were negative versus slight gains in total returns for most benchmarks. This year, the Hedge Fund Research Index has gained half as much as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. (Whether the S&P 500 is the appropriate benchmark is a reasonable question, but it’s a debate for a different column.)…
Cousins-Parkway Merger Closes, Though Parkway Lives On
Posted by: | CommentsThe two companies sealed the $2 billion deal Oct. 6.
Cousins Properties’ 1.4 million-square-foot Post Oak Central complex in Houston will become part of the new REIT as part of the merger agreement with Parkway Properties.
Atlanta and Orlando—In what must have been quite the flurry of closing activity late last week, Cousins Properties Inc. completed its $2 billion-plus merger with Parkway Properties Inc., though the deal has by no means meant the end of Parkway, which re-emerged almost immediately as a significantly changed entity.
Skanska JV Secures Mid-Coast Trolley Extension Contract
Posted by: | CommentsThe $922 million project will be led by Stacy and Witbeck.
San Diego—The San Diego Association of Governments has announced that a contractor has been picked for the Mid-Coast Trolley project. A venture of Stacy and Witbeck, Herzog, and Skanska has been awarded the construction manager/general contractor job, which is worth $921.8 million. As a result, Skanska announced that its USA Civil division will include $307.3 million on its third quarter order bookings. The winning venture is led by Stacy and Witbeck, while the project designers are Kimley Horn, Parsons Brinkerhoff, and HDR…
Skanska JV Secures Mid-Coast Trolley Extension Contract
Wells Fargo Isn’t the Only Firm That Needs a Lesson
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In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought an enforcement action against Apollo Global Management, the private equity giant overseen by Leon Black, contending that it had breached its fiduciary duty to investors by not disclosing specifics on fees it was extracting. CreditSeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Under siege for setting up thousands of phony customer accounts to generate fees, Wells Fargo has taken a beating in Congress and the court of public opinion. Several states have piled on, announcing that they are temporarily cutting their business ties with the bank.
Iconic Dallas Office Tower Gets New Owner
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17Seventeen McKinney
Dallas—The 369,000-square-foot 17Seventeen McKinney office tower in Dallas has changed hands, with HFF pulling double duty on the deal. The commercial real estate and capital markets services provider facilitated the sale of the trophy office asset on behalf of Granite Properties Inc. and MetLife Real Estate, and arranged financing for the buyer, Gaedeke Group’s Gaedeke Holdings XIV Ltd.
HFF was the right firm to handle the job; it has history with 17Seventeen, having orchestrated $73 million in financing for the property through Regions Bank, a tenant in the building, in 2014.
Aussie Housing Risk Overdone, RBA Unlikely to Cut, Morrison Says
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Sydney property prices jumped 14% this year through September
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‘The old pushing-against-the-string analogy is very relevant’
Treasurer Scott Morrison said debate on Australia’s housing market is prone to exaggeration — even as Sydney property prices rise anew — and indicated he doesn’t see much appetite at the central bank for further cuts in the nation’s already record-low interest rates.
There’s “no evidence” the property market is overvalued outside “arguably some pockets if x and y and z happened, and x and y and z as yet has not happened,” he said in an interview at the International Monetary Fund’s headquarters in Washington. “So I think these risks can be overstated. They can be really overstated. ”…
An Investor’s Plan to Transplant Private Health Care in Africa
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Khawar Mann at the Metropolitan Hospital in Nairobi. “Nairobi is a sweet spot for us,” he said. “You have emerging middle incomes. And there is a massive need for health care.” CreditTyler Hicks/The New York Times
NAIROBI, Kenya — The eyes of the private equity investor lit up as he strode across the empty floor of a recently built hospital here. There was not much to see: a stretch of unfinished concrete, and steel bars pushed into a corner.
But Khawar Mann of the Abraaj Group, an investment firm based in Dubai that specializes in developing markets, saw something else.
Liberty Property Trust Sells $969M Portfolio
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1 Country View Road, Malverne, Pa.
Philadelphia—Workspace Property Trust, a privately held commercial real estate company specializing in the development, management and operation of office and flex space, has completed the purchase of a nearly $1 billion portfolio from Liberty Property Trust.
The addition of 108 buildings and 26.7 acres of land in five markets across the United States is the second significant real estate transaction by WPT this year—and also the second involving Liberty, which has been selling off its non-core suburban assets. WPT’s partners in this acquisition, announced in late July, are global investment firm Safanad Ltd. and affiliates of Square Mile Capital, a New York-based real estate investment firm…
Meet the Parents, Australia’s Fastest-Growing Housing Lender
Posted by: | CommentsThe kids are alright (until interest rates rise).
Images Of Retirees As Australia’s $1.5 Trillion Pension System Failing
Beset by lending curbs and bubble-esque prices, first-time home buyers in Australia are turning to a rapidly growing source of finance: The Bank of Mom and Dad.
More parents are taking advantage of record-low interest rates to refinance their properties and help their grown-up kids onto the housing ladder amid sky-rocketing house values. Digital Finance Analytics estimates the number of Aussies getting help from their parents has soared to more than half of first-home buyers from just 3 percent six years ago…
$1.6 Million Bill Tests Tiny Town and ‘Bulletproof’ Public Pensions
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Loyalton, Calif., with a population of just over 700, has just four municipal retirees. When its City Council pulled out of the state public employees’ retirement system in 2012, its bill amounted to more than its total expenditures that year. CreditKevin Clifford for The New York Times
Until the certified letters from Sacramento started coming last month, Loyalton, Calif., was just another hole in the wall — a fading town of just over 700 that had not made much news since the gold rush of 1849. Its lifeblood, a sawmill, closed in 2001, wiping out jobs, paychecks and just about any reason an outsider might have had for giving Loyalton a second glance.
Developer of $50 Million Zaha Hadid N.Y. Penthouse Now Explores Tiny Homes
Posted by: | CommentsRelated, known for New York’s Hudson Yards and Time Warner Center, is testing 409-square-foot apartments in central London and whether they can work elsewhere
London’s latest micro flats meet the country’s minimum space requirements. Technically.
They’re built for one person. There’s only a shower, no bathtub allowed or they violate minimum size regulations. And if the concept works, its deep-pocketed New York backer may try to export the model…
Developer of $50 Million Zaha Hadid N.Y. Penthouse Now Explores Tiny Homes
UBS Wealth Management Moves Downmarket in Bid for More Clients
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Swiss bank to offer U.K. customers online investment service
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Service available for those with 15,000 pounds to invest
UBS Group AG, the world’s biggest manager of money for the wealthy, is going downmarket in a bid to scale up.
Starting next month, the Swiss bank will give some U.K. customers with as little as 15,000 pounds ($18,645) to deploy access to an online service that invests their money based on information they provide about themselves. In time, other countries will be included in the “SmartWealth” platform, with the full U.K. roll-out set for early 2017…
Waterstone Defeases Two CMBS Loans
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Waterstone DefeasanceWaterstone guided the owners through the defeasance process. In Columbia, it coincided with the owners’ sale of the property, while in Milwaukee, it concurred with owners’ refinance of the loan.
“This client was great to work with and were excellent partners in completing this defeasance transaction,” Brian Pedersen, director at Waterstone, said in a prepared statement…
Ontario Wants Foreign Housing Investment, Finance Minister Says
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Sousa seeks more Toronto data before considering new policies
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Remarks follow bids by federal government, B.C. to cool market
Ontario is signaling it’s in no rush to roll out additional measures to cool the Toronto housing market.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa, in an interview with Bloomberg TV Canada, said he welcomes foreign investment in Canada’s most-populous province and remains “very sensitive to affordability” of housing, adding more data is needed before making policy changes…
Ontario Wants Foreign Housing Investment, Finance Minister Says
Economy Watch: Job Growth Plods Along
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Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user J. Burkhalter
The U.S. economy created a total of 156,000 jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. That’s not a bad total, but not a particularly robust one either, and in line with job creation during most of 2016. So far this year, job growth has averaged 178,000 positions per month, compared with an average of 229,000 per month in 2015.
Shanghai Adopts Measures to Curb Rocketing Property Prices
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Crackdown follows similar moves in other Chinese cities
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Shanghai property prices rose 5.1% in September from month ago
Shanghai, China’s financial hub, is putting in place new measures to curb a surge in property prices as part of the country’s latest push to ensure stable and healthy real estate development.
The new steps announced by the city’s housing commission include increasing land supply and forbidding price increases in new home pre-sales without approval. In addition, punishment will be increased for spreading rumors about the property market and violating laws, according to a statement posted on the commission’s website…
Deutsche Bank and the Nonstop Bleeding of Europe’s Lenders
Posted by: | CommentsThe EU still hasn’t figured out how to live with historically low interest rates.
It’s been more than eight years since the financial crisis. Shouldn’t the No.?1 bank in Europe’s biggest economy have found its footing by now?
Germany’s Deutsche Bank has investors rattled, policymakers muddled, and anyone else who’s paying attention feeling a little queasy. The trigger was news in September that the bank could be hit with a $14 billion penalty for alleged misdeeds during the U.S. mortgage boom. Fearing Deutsche Bank would have to raise capital—selling stock and diluting per-share value—or even find itself in need of a state bailout, investors sent its shares tumbling to a record low on Sept. 26…
Deutsche Bank to Cut an Additional 1,000 Jobs in Germany
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The headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. CreditHannelore Foerster/Getty Images
LONDON — Deutsche Bank said on Thursday that it would eliminate 1,000 full-time positions in Germany as part of job cuts the embattled lender first announced last year.
The announcement comes with Deutsche Bank facing a series of challenges. Its shares have plunged more than 50 percent in the last year over concerns about the pace of attempts to turn business around after a run of poor financial results and a failing grade in a banking stress test in June…
Deutsche Bank to Cut an Additional 1,000 Jobs in Germany
Whirlwind of Activity for Apollo Commercial
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Lobby of the DoubleTree by Hilton Times Square West
New York—Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has been quite busy of late. The debt investments REIT recently closed four loan transactions worth a total of $325.5 million.
Talk about diversity, Apollo’s recent activities covered a lot of ground in terms of property types. Apollo provided a $105 million first mortgage loan secured by the brand-new, 612-key DoubleTree Times Square West hotel in Manhattan. The company financed another New York City asset, closing a $7.5 million first mortgage loan collateralized by a 6,500-square-foot retail property in Brooklyn. But it wasn’t all about the Big Apple…
China’s Housing Boom Looks a Lot Like Last Year’s Stocks Bubble
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Deutsche Bank, Goldman warn of growing China property risks
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China going through extreme investment cycles: JPMorgan Asset
Tai Hui is experiencing deja vu.
China’s surge in home prices reminds JPMorgan Asset Management’s chief Asia market strategist of last year’s stock market mania. Spiraling leverage and implicit state support are among the common denominators, he says. Shanghai property values jumped 31 percent in August from a year earlier, the latest data show. In 2015, a 60 percent rally in the city’s equities through June 12 was followed by a $5 trillion rout…
Wells Fargo Scandal Blunts a Weapon in Banks’ Regulatory Fight
Posted by: | CommentsWells Fargo has deprived banks of a Washington standard-bearer. Big lenders hoped to piggyback on their rival’s lack of Wall Street taint to resist proposals to curb pay and ban merchant banking. But the fake-accounts scandal weakens Wells Fargo’s ability to lead the charge.
Big banks have lately been looking to do battle on several regulatory fronts after backing off for a while. One proposal they want to defeat would force senior officials to defer more than 50 percent of their pay for four years if their bank lost money after taking excessive risk…
Sydney’s Home-Buying Frenzy Is Ramping Up Risk Again
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Shack for demolition miles from city sells for $760,000
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Shortage of homes for sale in Sydney reaches chronic levels
Australian policymakers say efforts to rein in the runaway housing market are working. But on the ground there’s a fresh bidding frenzy, as fiberboard shacks fit for demolition and miles from downtown Sydney go for almost A$1 million ($760,000).
A lack of houses in and around the city, the epicenter of Australia’s property boom, is pushing up prices again even after banks last year tightened mortgage lending. Some buyers are snapping up homes they’ve never seen, worried it might be their last chance to own a patch of land, said Peter Baldwin, the chief auctioneer at real estate agency Richardson & Wrench for 27 years…
Deutsche Bank’s $14 Billion Scare
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Justice officials had envisioned $3 billion mortgage penalty
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U.S. added prosecutors and gave RMBS cases a new overseer
This summer, U.S. Justice Department officials working on a mortgage securities investigation of Deutsche Bank AG expected the bank to settle the matter for $2 billion to $3 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Then came last month’s news that the government had opened settlement talks by asking for $14 billion, a figure that Deutsche Bank said it wouldn’t pay. That September surprise roiled markets and pushed the German lender’s shares to a record low as investors asked whether it would have to raise capital to meet the U.S. demand, even as it grapples with other potentially costly investigations…
Hines, AEW Capital Sell Texas Industrial Park
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One of the industrial buildings within Parc 114 Business Park, Irving, Texas
Irving, Texas—Parc 114 Business Park, a seven-building, Class A industrial park adjacent to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Irving, Texas, has a new owner: Colony Capital, which purchased the property through its Colony Industrial Fund.
The purchase price was not released. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller. The 568,272-square-foot industrial business park was owned for nearly two years by a partnership between AEW Capital Management, on behalf of a separate account client, and Hines Interests…
United Technologies Cuts Pension Liabilities by $1.77 Billion
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Company strikes deal with Prudential to offload pension risks
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Firm is also offering lump-sum payout to former U.S. employees
United Technologies Corp., the provider of products to the aerospace and building industries, is reducing its pension liabilities by $1.77 billion through the transfer of obligations to insurer Prudential Financial Inc. and a plan to offer lump-sum payouts to some retirees.
Wall Street Might Have a Blind Spot When It Comes to Trump
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Markets inefficient at pricing in unexpected political events
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High voter distrust risks surprise U.S. election outcome
Minutes into last week’s presidential debate, investors decided that Donald Trump, a candidate many of them fear, was being outshone by Hillary Clinton. This, they figured, would help stem his momentum, and so they frantically bid up the value of the Mexican peso, a currency that has become an election barometer. The next day, the S&P 500 Index followed suit, jumping 0.6 percent.
Equus Sheds $67M Suburban Chicago Office Asset
Posted by: | CommentsThe 533,365-square-foot Tallgrass Corporate Center is fully leased, the tenant roster including Ulta Beauty, Presence Health and Quad/Graphics.
Tallgrass Corporate Center, Bolingbrook, Ill.
Chicago—Equus Capital Partners has announced the $67.3 million sale of Tallgrass Corporate Center in Bolingbrook, Ill. Middleton Partners acquired the 533,365-square-foot, Class A office asset, which was fully leased at the time of sale. JLL’s James Postweiler and Peter Harwood represented the seller in the transaction.
Wall Street Regulator Set to Vote on Mutual-Fund Liquidity Rules
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SEC says it will consider proposed regulations on Oct. 13
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Mutual funds would need liquidity risk management programs
Some of the world’s biggest fund managers may soon face new rules designed to ensure they can meet investor redemption demands by easily selling assets.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will vote Oct. 13 on whether to require mutual funds to adopt liquidity risk-management programs and bolster disclosures, the agency said Thursday. Commissioners proposed the protections a year ago amid concerns that some funds could have trouble meeting redemption demands during a market selloff. The SEC will also consider rules to modernize reporting by registered investment companies…
Wal-Mart Balks at Paying $600-Million-Plus in Bribery Case
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U.S. said to seek more evidence on alleged conduct in Mexico
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Proposed penalty would be among the largest for corruption
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is butting heads with the U.S. government over how to wrap up a long-running foreign corruption investigation.
Officials have proposed that the world’s biggest retailer pay at least $600 million to resolve probes by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether it bribed government officials in markets from Mexico to India and China, according to three people familiar with the matter. The retailer has rebuffed the government’s request, two of them said…