1. India: Hotel operator seeks IPO
India-based real estate investment trust Ventive Hospitality filed a draft prospectus with the country’s Securities & Exchange Board, the first step in the process for a planned initial public offering intended to raise about 20 billion Indian rupees, or $238.2 million.
The hotel owner, operator and developer expects to have its IPO on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. The company’s majority shareholders are U.S. private-equity firm Blackstone and Pune, India-based construction and development firm Panchshil Realty, owned by the Chordia family. Ventive is the hospitality division of real estate conglomerate Panchshil Realty, which develops commercial, retail, data center and residential projects across and outside India.
2. UK: London posts jump in pending office sales
Central London office investment is on track to record notably low volumes in the third quarter but a positive shift is taking place, with the number of buildings under pending offers improving strongly, according to senior brokers at Cushman & Wakefield.
On the occupier side, the slower speed at which transactions are closing, alongside looming United Kingdom budget talks and a United States general election, are tempering expectations of a bumper end to a year that has seen robust take-up of office properties. Cushman & Wakefield head of London offices capital markets, Martin Lay, said the market is at a “crossroads moment and it will be a very interesting final quarter.”
3. France: Regional office market deals slow down
Sale transaction volumes for 17 French office regions posted 13% below long-term averages in the first half of 2024, putting investment at the same level as 2014, according to data from brokerage BNP Paribas Real Estate released exclusively to Business Immo.
The decline from the first half of 2023 is more substantial, at 19%. This is due in particular to a 38% drop in transactions involving medium-sized properties in most cities, with exceptions such as Tours, Metz, Grenoble and Dijon.
4. Germany: Investment firm buys 30 hotels from Accor
Investment firm BC Partners Real Estate and asset manager Hova are acquiring 30 Ibis hotels with 2,308 rooms in Germany from Accor and leasing them to hospitality operator B&B. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The new owners plan to modernize the buildings and significantly improve their energy efficiency, and Accor plans to use proceeds to reduce debt. Accor offered the portfolio on the market last year with a sale price expectation of about 130 million euros circulated, though market sources said the price obtained in the latest deal was significantly lower.
5. Canada: REIT executives see optimism despite sobering stock prices
The CEOs of some of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts told conference participants that they’re viewing new optimism in the market about prospects for a recovery in investor demand.
REIT leaders said during the RealREIT conference that they learned to ignore the headlines and to focus instead on their operations after four years of seeing REIT stock prices take a beating during the pandemic. The shutdown of industries that began in March 2020 immediately affected REITs and real estate operating companies that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with stock prices for some companies still well blow their pre-pandemic peaks.
6. US: Apple-leased buildings in Silicon Valley hit market
The owner behind a trio of Silicon Valley buildings leased entirely to iPhone maker Apple is testing the region's turbulent office market with a move to list the portfolio for sale.
New York-based investment firm TriCap, the tech giant’s landlord for the three buildings in Sunnyvale, California, listed for sale the nearly 350,000-square-foot portfolio that will serve as a litmus test for how powerful Apple's tenancy is in terms of landing a buyer willing to put in the highest bid, according to people familiar with the effort. The listing is expected to land a sales price between $270 million to $350 million, a range that could result in as much as $1,000 per square foot. Newmark has been hired to help market the portfolio.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.