Aetos Capital’s trumping of a Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers-led bid for Japanese property developer Daito Trust Construction Co, at 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion), may land its investors with a valuable position in the rich Japanese property market, but some analysts say rising supply could sap returns. According to a source, the bid for about 30 percent of Daito Trust, with investors from real estate group Mori Trust Co and local private equity firm Unison Capital Inc, topped the Morgan/Lehman group offer of about 240 billion yen ($2.2 billion). The company is seen as a steady cash-generator, but vacancy rates could well rise as Tokyo construction picks up pace.

A Hong Kong-based unit of the agency that manages China’s $1.4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves has bought small stakes in at least two Australian banks, showing Beijing does not rely solely on its newly established $200 billion sovereign wealth fund to make direct investments in Western financial firms. A spokesman for the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Australia’s third-biggest lender by assets, confirmed that SAFE Investment Co held less than 1 percent of ANZ, and a source said SAFE holds a similar size stake in Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. Sources at National Australia Bank told the Financial Times that SAFE held about a third of a percent of it.

Australian coal miner Resource Pacific advised shareholders to reject a A$960 million ($842 million) bid from Xstrata, saying the offer was “neither fair nor reasonable“. Swiss-based miner Xstrata in December launched a A$960 million cash bid for Resource Pacific, offering A$2.85 for each of Resource Pacific’s shares, and trumping an all-share offer by smaller coal miner New Hope Corp. Resource Pacific said in a statement that an independent assessment had valued the firm’s shares at between A$3.56-A$4.09 a piece, with a preferred value of A$3.82 a share.

Centro Properties, Australia’s second high-profile victim of the global credit crisis and as major strip mall operator in the U.S., said it had been unable to extend maturing interest rate hedges on its borrowings. Centro said it was considering its hedging levels as part of a strategic review of its business. Earlier this week, Centro invited expression of interest from potential buyers after receiving several unsolicited bids, driving its share price higher with investors betting on strong demand from hedge funds and private equity investors in the planned sale process. The lack of hedging certainly won’t lend support to the deal price.