Asia Pacific

South Korea's National Pension Service, the world's fifth-largest pension fund, has committed to invest $300 million in troubled real estate through Townsend Group, the latest sign that foreign investors increasingly are venturing into the down-on-its-luck U.S. property market, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The pension fund has committed to invest the money in a separately managed account with Cleveland-based Townsend. It primarily will focus on snapping up stakes in distressed private-equity real-estate funds and recapitalizing these funds.

The Westin Hotel is "making the best of a bad situation" as a dispute between the owners and receivers of the hotel's management company rumbles on during one of its busiest booking weeks of the year, The New Zealand Herald reported. The Westin is doing a fraction of its normal trade and has had to turn away several NZ Fashion Week guests after half of the hotel was made off limits earlier this month. Owners are seeking to cancel the leases of a further 19 rooms at the five star hotel in the next two weeks.

Goanna Print has gone into administration, with managing director Phil Abbott saying the award-winning company had struggled to remain competitive because "we didn't want to drop quality". The Canberra-based printer entered voluntary administration with Frank Lo Pilato from RSM Bird Cameron Partners on Monday. Lo Pilato told ProPrint he had identified "cashflow problems" at the company. It is continuing to trade, and Abbott told ProPrint he was "quietly confident" the administrators would be able to sell the business as a going concern.

More than $1 million in gold and silver bullion has been confiscated from a Hamilton house after English bankruptcy trustees successfully sought a search and seizure order through the New Zealand courts -- a first for a foreign insolvency case on these shores, Voxy reported. The bullion was allegedly hidden from creditors of retired English psychiatrist Alan Geraint Simpson, 68, who was adjudged bankrupt by the High Court of England and Wales in September last year. Steven John Williams was appointed as trustee of Mr Simpson's bankrupt estate in January.

Two more entities established by Allan Hubbard have been placed into statutory management, The New Zealand Herald reported. The Government yesterday put Hubbard Churcher Trust Management and Forresters Nominee Company into management after receiving a recommendation from the Securities Commission. Commerce Minister Simon Power said the decision to add the two companies was a result of the ongoing investigations by the statutory managers who reported their findings to the Securities Commission.

The future of Alinta Energy Group remains in the balance, despite a recapitalisation plan passing significant milestones yesterday, The Australian reported. The plan, known as Project Amber, was approved by key stakeholders. A proposal led by US private equity firm TPG Capital was approved at a meeting last night by the two holders of swap instruments over $2.55 billion in Alinta senior loans -- a crucial precursor to the deal proceeding.

A bankruptcy judge on Monday confirmed Almatis Group's plan to exit Chapter 11 protection in the hands of its corporate parent, Dubai International Capital, bringing the closely watched five-and-a-half month battle for the Netherlands-based aluminum company closer to resolution, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Under the restructuring plan, Almatis will emerge from bankruptcy 60% owned by DIC, with junior mezzanine lenders getting 40%. The plan sets aside 10% of the new company's shares for Almatis management.

The receivers of South Canterbury Finance say they have received more than 150 inquiries from New Zealand and overseas investors expressing interest in acquiring assets, The National Business Review reported. Kerryn Downey and William Black, of advisory firm McGrathNicol, have invited leading investment banks to submit proposals for advising and assisting them in selling the group's assets. South Canterbury collapsed into receivership last month triggering a $1.6 billion payout to depositors under the Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme.

Sahara India Pariwar, an Indian conglomerate with real estate and media holdings, says it has made a $2 billion bid to buy the debt of struggling Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., the Associated Press reported. It was unclear how MGM's committee of creditors views the offer. The new offer, announced late Thursday, comes a day after MGM said it had gotten another extension on an agreement to put off interest payments on about $4 billion in debt until Oct. 29. The studio has rights to the James Bond franchise and owns half of the upcoming movies based on J.R.R.

More Chinese expect property prices to keep rising, a People's Bank of China survey found, illustrating the challenge that policy makers face in reining in the country's real-estate market, The Wall Street Journal reported. The survey of banking depositors, conducted in the third quarter and reported on the central bank's website Sunday, found that 36.6% expect property prices to rise, up from 29.4% in the previous quarter, though down from 41.5% a year earlier.