VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City in the first quarter of 2013 witnessed 4 high-rise building project transfer deals worth $600 million, according to CBRE, a real estate service provider. In Hanoi, some 70 projects are waiting to be transferred, but the number of successful deals remains limited.

HCM City and the multi-million dollar transfer deals

Sohovietnam, a merger & acquisition (M&A) consultancy firm, has reported that some 50 projects are waiting to be transferred via the firm. The HCM City market was really warm in the first quarter of 2013 with a lot of high-rise buildings in the central area changed hands.

The biggest transfer deal was the one where Asiana Airlines of South Korean Kumho group bought 50 percent of the stakes of the Kumho Asiana Plaza complex of offices – shopping mall – hotel from Kumho E&C. The deal had the value of $93.9 million.

Also in the first quarter of 2013, VinaCapital sold Legend Hotel in district 1 to Lotte Hotel & Resort at $62.5 million to implement its plan on withdrawing capital from the real estate sector.

Gemadept, a shipping firm, is planning to sell some assets to get money to gather strength on its core business fields. One of the assets is Gemadept Tower, an A-class office building with the total area of 16,000 square meters in district 1.

Hanoi: big guys also sell projects to stop loss

Also according to Sohovietnam, the number of projects whose investors want to transfer has reached 70. However, only 10 percent of the projects are located in the central area which may attract buyers, while the majority of others are located in the suburb districts of Cau Giay, Tu Liem, Hoang Mai, Thanh Tri, Hoai Duc and Me Linh.

A lot of real estate developers have offered to sell their real estate projects. Licogi 16, for example, has stated that it will sell any projects in 2013, if possible. It is now the developer of many projects including the 12.5 hectare Hiep Thanh project in district 12, Nam An in Binh Tan, Long Tan and Dien Phuoc in Nhon Trach, Sky Park and Hoang Mai in Hanoi.

Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ha Do Group said at the 2013 shareholders’ meeting that the company may sell several projects in 2013 to earn VND1.4 trillion.

Vinaconex 7 is seeking the suitable partners who want to buy the building belonging to the housing project in My Dinh area, whose company is the investor. The transfer deal is estimated at VND150 billion.

Vinaconex is also gearing up to transfer projects to take back the investment capital in 2013. The projects to be put on sale include the Golden Silk, the industrial zone development project in Hung Yen province and the project on upgrading the old residential blocs in Quang Ninh province.

Prior to that, the Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) has successfully transferred its contributed capital, worth 50 percent of the chartered capital in the An Khanh New Urban Area Company Joint Venture.

Most recently, Sudico on April 8 announced that it would sell a part of the Nam An Khanh new urban area project.

Regarding the values of the projects, analysts say the prices have decreased sharply in comparison with the last year. In general, the prices are now 20 percent lower than the last year and 30 percent lower than the highest peak. In some cases, the price has tumbled dramatically by 50 percent.

VnMedia