Daily news - 25 Sep

Yanlord shares hit by graft trial of China ex-official
Yanlord Group – Shares of Yanlord Group went into a tailspin yesterday, hurt by market rumours linking it to a corruption trial in Shanghai involving a former Chinese official. Following a request by Yanlord, share trading was halted at 2 pm, pending an announcement in response to the market talk. But the stock had by then plummeted as low as 99 cents before ending the morning session at $1.04, down 22 cents or 17.5 per cent. According to a China magazine, Caijing, the group allegedly allowed a former Shanghai official - currently on trial for suspected corruption - to buy an apartment at a price substantially below market levels. Caijing said in an online report that Yanlord allegedly allowed Kang Huijun, former deputy chief of the Pudong district in Shanghai, to buy a luxury apartment at Yanlord Riverside Garden in the prosperous Lujiazui area, at a steeply discounted price of 8,300 yuan (S$1,719) per square metre in 2001, at a time when the prevailing market price was 11,000-12,000 yuan per sq m.

Allgreen consortium wins Nanjing commercial sit
Allgreen Properties – A three-party consortium, which includes Singapore-listed Allgreen Properties, has won the bid for a commercial site in China's Nanjing City. Allgreen, which participated in the tender exercise through wholly owned subsidiary Belfin Investments, said the 17,014 square metre site is designated for hotel, commercial and office use. The purchase price is 200 million yuan (S$41.6 million). The other members in the consortium are subsidiaries of Kerry Properties and Shangri-la Asia. To undertake the acquisition and development, the consortium will set up a foreign-owned enterprise in China. Allgreen, Kerry Properties and Shangri-La will have respective stakes of 15, 45 and 40 per cent. Allgreen said in its announcement yesterday that it would benefit from the joint venture because of the partners' expertise in and understanding of China's property market. Kerry Properties will provide project development, construction management and project consultancy services, while the Shangri-La group will provide hotel management services. Allgreen has other joint investments with the two partners in Shanghai, Tianjin and Tangshan and more joint projects with Kerry in Chengdu, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. The maximum total investment cost for this latest Nanjing site is about 1.5 billion yuan.

Source: Kim Eng