Japan Times 9 May 2009
Nippon Life Insurance is about to buy the Japanese HQ of embattled American insurer AIG for ¥100bn. The building, next to the imperial palace in central Tokyo, comprises 15 storeys. The sale represents one of the biggest capital raising deals AIG has made to repay the US taxpayer for bailing it out last September.
Australian Financial Review 11 May 2009
Westpac Banking is suing CB Richard Ellis for damages of A$854,421 over a property valuation. The bank said that it lent money to a purchaser on the basis of the valuation. When the purchaser defaulted, the property was sold for a significantly lower amount. A CBRE spokesman told EG that it could not comment on the case.
South China Morning Post 11 May 2009
The court battle over the HK$100bn property empire of late billionaire Nina Wang Kung Yu, once Asia’s richest woman, starts today. The trial centres on Tony Chan Chun-chuen, a feng shui master who claims to have became the eccentric woman’s secret lover and closest confidant. The will is being contested by the Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which claims that Wang intended to leave her fortune to its good causes and that Chan forged her will.
Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand) 12 May 2009
BP Oil New Zealand is considering challenging an off-market sale of the Wellington building in which it is head tenant. The oil company has been approached by investors and agents who want to stop publicly listed Kiwi Income Property Trust selling BP House on Customhouse Quay, Wellington, to developer Paul Benjamin for $26m. The investors say that BP could exercise its right of first refusal to buy the building on the same terms and immediately sell it on.
Newsday (New York) 12 May 2009
Despite delays and reports of a possible scaling back, the developer of the redesigned World Trade Center and the owner of the land on which it is being constructed insisted yesterday that building commitments are unchanged and are moving forward. While lease negotiations are continuing, Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority have not veered from the planned reconstruction blueprint, officials said.
