Daily Briefing: Singapore to get new F-16 fighter jets; Temasek unit buys stake in Indian ports for US$147m

And GIC invests US$250m in a joint venture to acquire US$2b worth of rental houses.

From Deal Street Asia:

A Temasek unit acquired 27 million shares for a total of US$147m in India's Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone after its US$146,000 investment in a Jaipur bank in June.

"Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings, via its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Camas Investments, has acquired a stake worth Rs1,000 crore (U$147 million) in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) through open-market transactions, as per block deal data available with BSE.

Camas picked up a little over 27 million shares, equating to a 1.31 per cent stake in Adani Ports, from promoter entity S.B. Adani Family Trust, represented by Gautambhai Shantilal Adani and Rajeshbhai Shantilal Adani."

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From Reuters:

Singapore will replace around 60 F-16 jets with new units that could cost from $27m to $136.5m each.

"Singapore will announce in the next few months plans to replace its ageing F-16 fighter jets, its defence minister said, listing a number of manufacturers that could be in the running for a deal potentially worth billions of dollars.

Singapore’s fleet of around 60 F-16 jets are at the tail end of their service and Ng Eng Hen told reporters it needs to make a decision to replace them soon because training pilots and building facilities for new models can take up to 10 years.

With Southeast Asia’s largest defence budget, the wealthy city-state is a key prize for global arms companies as it looks to invest in new technology and upgrade its equipment."

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From Deal Street Asia:

GIC pledged US$250m in a partnership with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas to purchase US$2b worth of houses which will be up for rent.

"A US public pension fund and a sovereign wealth fund are joining forces to hunt for profits in Sun Belt rental houses.

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Singapore’s GIC Pte formed a joint venture with Toronto-based Tricon Capital Group Inc. to acquire as many as 12,000 rental homes, according to people with knowledge of the deal, who asked not to be named because it’s private.

Each of the three partners has pledged US$250m ($341.12m), allowing the venture to acquire about US$2b ($2.7b) billion of houses, according to a June 27 statement from Tricon that described the joint venture but didn’t name the partners."

Read more here.