Singapore
Singapore-based real estate asset manager Mapletree Investment Pte. Ltd is gearing up to invest in the logistics space in India. Logistics development is a strategic call for Mapletree, which is looking at creating a long-term investment and development portfolio across key cities. Mapletree has just concluded the acquisition of Chennai-based information technology park SP Infocity, marking its return seven years after it had made its first and only investment in the country. In October, Mapletree acquired a 16.5 million sqft. logistics portfolio for $1.1 billion from Prologis, Inc in a bid to increase its global footprint as a logistics real estate provider and to venture beyond Asia — a strategy it has been executing since 2014. Mapletree Logistics Trust is Singapore’s first Asia-focused logistics real estate investment trust.
Vietnam
Vietnam Airlines plans to move its shares from the UPCoM (Unlisted Public Company Market) to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, home to the country’s largest stocks, by April 2019. The state-owned carrier will publicly list 1.4 billion shares on the southern bourse, also known locally as HOSE, in early April 2019. The company, currently 86 percent owned by the Ministry of Transportation, had its IPO in 2014, where it offloaded a small 3.48 percent equity stake. Shares of Vietnam Airlines are traded on UPCoM at around VND34,000 ($1.47) apiece, valuing the company at more than $2 billion. In 2016, Japan’s ANA Holdings paid $108 million for an 8.8 per cent stake in Vietnam Airlines. The move to list on HOSE comes amid increasing competition from budget carriers in the country. Vietjet, whose market capitalisation stands at about $3 billion, has emerged as the leading airline company in terms of market share (43 per cent). Vietnam Airlines, which has a 51 per cent stake in the Jetstar Pacific joint venture, was reported to have a market share of less than 42 per cent in 2017.
Indonesia
Following recent revelations of Go-Jek’s internal structure and shareholders, another leaked document has shed some light on the structure of fellow Indonesian unicorn Tokopedia. The information, obtained by KrAsia from a legal document, gives an idea of the power structure within the company and also appears to confirm recent reports of a fresh $1-billion funding round raised by Tokopedia. The document, which companies in Indonesia are obliged to file and update with local authorities, shows SoftBank as the largest contributor in Tokopedia’s latest funding round, investing over $3 million through two different funds. Other participants in the latest round include early investors Beenos, Global Opportunity PE Fund and TG18 Holdings Limited. Overall, SoftBank holds almost 40 percent of the total shares issued by Tokopedia through a number of different funds managed by the Japanese firm.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s anti-trust watchdog has ruled the acquisition of Uber’s business in the country by Southeast Asian ride-hailing major Grab violated the country’s competition regulations. The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (VCA) said the Grab-Uber transaction breached two norms of the competition law, including a failure to notify the economic concentration following the deal and prohibited consolidation. The competition law in Vietnam states that any consolidation that leads to the combined entity having a more than 50 percent market share in a relevant market is forbidden.
