China Shuangma to sell $410 mln shares to Lafarge

China Shuangma said on Friday it planned to sell new shares worth $410 million to a unit of French construction group Lafarge to raise money to buy the unit's assets in a joint venture.

Shuangma aimed to sell 368 million yuan-denominated A shares to Lafarge China Offshore Holding Co at a price of 7.61 yuan each to raise 2.8 billion yuan ($410 million) to buy a 50 percent stake in Dujiangyan Lafarge Cement Co, which is now owned by Lafarge China Offshore, Shuangma said in a statement.

The private placement, originally announced by Shuangma last September at a value of around 3.0 billion yuan, would be submitted to a Shuangma shareholders' meeting for approval on Jan. 23, it said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Lafarge China is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lafarge Shui Cement Co, the world's biggest cement producer and a joint venture between Lafarge and Hong Kong-listed Shui On Construction and Materials Ltd.

Dujiangyan Lafarge Cement has an annual capacity of 3.2 million tonnes and it is building a new production line with additional capacity of 2 million tonnes a year, expected to come into operation in April 2010.

Lafarge China owns 75 percent of Dujiangyan and China's Dujiangyan City Construction and Materials Co owns the rest.

Shuangma's Shenzhen-listed A shares closed up nearly 5 percent at 7.40 yuan on Friday, outperforming a 1.42 percent rise in China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC.

(Reuters)

Hertz Begins Operations in China

PARK RIDGE, NJ, Sep 03, 2008 -- Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation (HERC), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hertz Corporation and a leading construction and industrial equipment rental business, has commenced operations in Shanghai, China. With an initial product line of aerial lifts, air compressors and generators, similar to some of the equipment HERC rents in the U.S., the Company plans to expand the collection to include cranes, excavators, rollers and wheel loaders.

"HERC has a strong growth agenda with a focus on geographical expansion," commented Mark P. Frissora, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for The Hertz Corporation. "The equipment rental market in China is in its infancy and with an established presence there, HERC will be able to capitalize upon the growth of the Chinese marketplace over the coming years."

"We are constantly seeking out revenue and growth opportunities in the equipment rental market," commented Gerry Plescia, President, Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation. "Operating in China is critical to Hertz's overall strategy as it enables us to continue our geographical expansion while tapping into our diverse product line to service many of the growing industries in China, including the manufacturing, shipbuilding, industrial and construction markets."

HERC Asia targets multinational companies, which are already familiar with the rental concept, as well as large Chinese contractors and state-owned enterprises such as shipyards, refineries, highway construction and mining. Operating as its own foreign-owned enterprise with a national rental license, HERC seeks to work with local Chinese partners and to identify potential regions within the country for greenfield expansion.

Hertz Equipment Rental operates one of the world's largest equipment rental businesses, offering a diverse line of equipment, including tools and supplies, as well as new and used equipment for sale, to customers ranging from major industrial companies to local contractors and consumers through more than 375 branches in the United States, Canada, France and Spain.

The Hertz Corporation is the world's largest general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 8,100 locations in 147 countries worldwide. Hertz is the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 69 major airports in Europe, operating both corporate and licensee locations in cities and airports in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the Company has licensee locations in cities and airports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz #1 Club Gold(R), NeverLost(R) customized, onboard navigation systems, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the company's Prestige, Fun and Green Collections, set Hertz apart from the competition.

(MARKET WIRE via COMTEX)

Mori's Skyscraper Opens in China

SHANGHAI -- In a big bet on China's post-Olympics economy, Japanese developer Minoru Mori opened the country's tallest skyscraper in a challenging environment.

Members of the public were allowed starting Saturday to enter the observatory near the top of the 492-meter, 101-floor Shanghai World Financial Center, following the opening of some other parts of the tower in recent days.

Reuters

The Shanghai World Financial Centre is on track to reach 90% occupancy within a year, according to its developer and biggest shareholder.

Mr. Mori, whose family-owned company Mori Building Co. owns 70% of the $1.13 billion project, now faces a difficult environment to profit on one of the world's tallest buildings.

In an interview Friday, the 74-year-old developer said he remains confident the building will be 90% full within a year, despite a global credit crunch that is starting to affect China's economy, too. But he also acknowledged that some of the Wall Street firms he was counting on to occupy his tower have scaled back ambitions, in particular Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Some financial executives have told him that "the liberalization of the financial markets [in China] were not enough to have a full business line here," Mr. Mori said.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, which through an investment fund owns about 9% of the Shanghai World Financial Center project, declined to comment. Lehman said in a statement: "Given current market conditions and future supply coming onto market, we do not have a pressing need to make commitment at this stage and are evaluating different options available."

One of Tokyo's most prominent developers, Mr. Mori moved more quickly in the early 1990s than almost anyone to capitalize on China's plans to make Shanghai into a financial center. The 14 years he spent on the Shanghai World Financial Center was almost as long as the 17 years required to get his flagship Tokyo development, Roppongi Hills, opened in 2003.

The project was delayed by everything from a regional financial crisis in the late 1990s to strange rumors in China that a circular space planned for the building's peak was a ploy by Mr. Mori to embed the Japanese "rising sun" in Shanghai's skyline.

Now, the building is opening its doors into a crowded market, months behind schedule and with 26 office tenants for almost 70 floors of space. But Mr. Mori shows no concern.

"My past experience shows me that if you have the strength to remain when others give up, opportunity arises," Mr. Mori said. "There is always a cycle." Unexpected new tenants, like Middle Eastern investment funds, will help fill up space, he added.

Mr. Mori isn't the only developer putting his mark on Shanghai's Pudong financial district, notoriously empty a decade ago but now one of the city's priciest areas. About 300 floors of office-building space are nearing completion within a few minutes' walk of Mr. Mori's complex, not including an even taller tower slated to open next door in 2014.

The World Financial Center, designed by New York-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, is considered the world's second-tallest finished building, some 17 meters short of Taiwan's Taipei 101, according to a database maintained by Emporis Corp. A building under construction in Dubai will be even taller -- its height has already passed 630 meters.

The Shanghai building has a glass exterior that appears to twist as it narrows toward a flattened wedge at the top. Mr. Mori describes the boxy opening at the top -- which replaced the previously planned circle -- as "like a credit card, which is a symbol of financial development."

Mori officials say they will maintain premium lease rates but concede that their posted price of $3 per day per square meter of net space applies only to a fraction of the tower. "These buildings don't command a premium rental when they first come onto the market," said Tim O'Connor, senior director at CB Richard Ellis Property Consultants Ltd.

Atop Mr. Mori's building, a tunnel with glass floors and walls offers a view of Shanghai that is as dizzying as it is dazzling. A skyline of some of the world's tallest towers unfolds below, and people on the streets appear as imperceptible specks. The lobby of its Park Hyatt hotel stands on floor 87.

The 91 elevators that cut through the building, mostly its middle, can make for a confusing walk around office floors, while ventilation-system placement necessitates smallish windows.

"It probably is the highest-quality building in Shanghai. But the bang for the buck I'm not sure is worth it," said Theodore Jusin Novak, a senior adviser at property adviser Debenham Tie Leung in Shanghai. "It's not leasing as well as expected or hoped."

"It's a landmark building and no one will miss it," said Roy Chan, a partner at DLA Piper, which leased about two-thirds of floor 36.

(The Wall Street Journal)