Category: 3. Business

SYDNEY, 1 July 2025 – Royal Caribbean has hit it for six and entered a new partnership as the Official Holiday Partner of the Brisbane Heat and Queensland Cricket for the 2025-26 season. Known for more than 50 years of delivering memorable adventures for families sailing from Australia and around the world, Royal Caribbean will make this summer one to remember for Brisbane Heat fans. Through the partnership, BNE Heat members can make the most of the season with Royal Caribbean exclusive deals, sneak peek product updates and weekend getaway giveaways, along with family-focused community and fan event experiences throughout the summer season.

“We’re excited to announce the coming together of two iconic brands, as we partner with the Brisbane Heat to create engaging and unforgettable fan experiences both on and off the field,” said Gavin Smith, vice president and managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Royal Caribbean. “As Royal Caribbean prepares for the upcoming Australian summer season of memory-maxing holidays, our goal is to provide unmatched experiences and entertainment to Queensland families in between monumental cricket games. We look forward to partnering with the Heat to create unforgettable moments for cricket lovers and holidaymakers this summer.”

Fans will see the partners unite on and off the field, with Royal Caribbean serving as the presenting partner of the Gabba Park ‘Fan Zone’, as well as creating ‘The Royal Caribbean Countdown,’ set to be a fan-favourite moment, all starting in December 2025.

Reflecting on the partnership, Heat General Manager, Commercial, Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Pete Lock, mirrored this sentiment by suggesting there were clear synergies between Royal Caribbean and the Brisbane Heat.

“The Heat brings families together every summer. The start of summer holidays is when the Women’s Big Bash League and Big Bash League thrive, and it is a natural fit with Royal Caribbean, as it is also the peak time for travel, entertaining holidaymakers in beautiful locations,” said Lock. “We are very pleased to be on board with Royal Caribbean and look forward to working alongside them to make summer even more special for our Heat members and fans.’’

The partnership comes on the heels of the Australian sailing season kicking off with an action-packed summer of adventures, including the long-awaited return of Voyager of the Seas to its new home in Brisbane. Aussie holidaymakers can choose from a line-up of 45 getaways to the South Pacific, New Zealand and along the eastern seaboard, sailing between November 2025 and April 2026, offering something for everyone in the family.

To celebrate Royal Caribbean as the Official Brisbane Heat Membership Partner, the holiday brand is hosting a pre-season competition for members to win the ultimate family holiday as well as an exclusive member offer on 2025/26 sailings. For competition details, holidaymakers can visit www.brisbaneheat.com.au.

About Royal Caribbean  
Royal Caribbean, part of Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL), has delivered memorable vacations for more than 50 years. The cruise line’s game-changing ships and exclusive destinations revolutionize vacations with innovations and an all-encompassing combination of experiences, from thrills to dining and entertainment, for every type of family and vacationer. Voted “Best Cruise Line Overall” for 22 consecutive years in the Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards, Royal Caribbean makes memories with adventurers across more than 300 destinations in 80 countries on all seven continents, including the line’s top-rated exclusive destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas. 

Media can stay up to date by following @RoyalCaribPR on X and visit www.RoyalCaribbeanPressCenter.com. For additional information or to book, vacationers can visit www.RoyalCaribbean.com, call (800) ROYAL-CARIBBEAN or contact their travel advisor.  

About Brisbane Heat
The Brisbane Heat is one of the eight founding franchises of the Big Bash League, Australia’s premier T20 cricket competition. Known for their vibrant teal uniforms and passionate fan base, the Heat have become a staple of summer cricket in Queensland. The team plays its home matches at the iconic Gabba, a venue renowned for its electric atmosphere and rich cricketing history.

Korea’s interconnected PF structure

In Korea, real estate project finance (PF) is a financing method used primarily for large-scale real estate development projects. Unlike traditional corporate finance, project finance is typically structured around a specific project, with repayment of debt relying on the cash flows and assets generated by the project itself, rather than the general creditworthiness of the developer. Unlike advanced economies where developers typically contribute 30–40% equity to real estate PF projects, Korean developers often inject as little as 5% or less of the total project cost, hence financing the remainder through debt.

Given the inherently high risk and uncertainty of PF projects, financial institutions are reluctant to lend without guarantees, placing greater emphasis on guarantees instead of conducting comprehensive assessments of project feasibility. These guarantees are often provided by construction companies. With the enhancement of the project’s creditworthiness, developers can better secure the necessary financing (Figure 1). Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) too extended credit to the developers but they tend to focus on riskier projects in search for higher returns.

In light of these credit guarantees, a construction company is obligated to assume the responsibility in the event where financial institutions refuse to extend the loan maturity or the developer becomes insolvent. In such cases, the construction company’s deteriorating financial condition may trigger a credit crunch across the construction sector, potentially creating ripple effects that affect the broader financial system. This was evident In late 2023 when Taeyoung Construction, Korea’s 16th largest builder, entered a debt workout which fueled concerns of a funding squeeze in the construction sector leading to financial market volatility.

PF stress across NBFIs and construction

The current challenges faced by real estate PF have their roots in the mid-2010s, when a real estate boom was fueled by low rates. During this period, both banks and NBFIs aggressively expanded their PF lending. By Q2 2024, Korea’s PF loans stood at KRW 132.2 trillion, with 63.5 percent held by NBFIs and 36.5 percent by banks (Figure 2). Among NBFIs, savings banks and credit cooperatives targeted higher-risk market segments and lending to lower-credit borrowers.

However, this landscape changed dramatically in mid-2021, as aggressive rate hikes and rising construction costs inflated presale prices and dampened real estate demand. Inventory of unsold units rose sharply, especially in non-metropolitan areas (Figure 3). As unsold units accumulated, developers and construction firms faced worsening liquidity, triggering contingent liabilities and forcing costly financing or asset sales. This placed additional strain on already weakened construction companies and eroded their profitability (Figure 4).

For example, Taeyoung Construction’s debt-to-equity ratio was 258 percent, with KRW 3.7 trillion in PF guarantees (374% of its equity) as of end-September 2023, prior to filing for a debt workout in December.

As construction companies’ repayment capacity weakened, NBFIs with large exposures to PF loans saw a sharp rise in delinquencies. Particularly hit were savings banks whose non-performing loan (NPL) ratios surged from 3.4 percent at end-2021 to 11.5 percent in June 2024. Securities firms also recorded growing PF loan delinquencies, reflecting broader vulnerabilities across the NBFI sector (Figure 5).

Policy response and challenges

The accumulation of PF-related distress has led to a sharp downturn in the property market and triggered broader stress across the construction and financial sectors. In 2024, the Korean authorities rolled out extensive policy measures to reduce market uncertainty surrounding real estate PF and to ensure its orderly soft landing.

• A “soft landing” package centered on differentiating viable and non-viable projects through enhanced feasibility reviews.
• Broader reforms to shore up the PF sector’s structural resilience, including raising efforts aimed at bringing equity ratio in line with advanced economy standards (of 20 percent) over the medium to long term.

As a result, as of December 2024, KRW 6.5 trillion—30.9 percent of the KRW 20.9 trillion in loans to development projects classified as “attention” or “insolvency risk” had been resolved or restructured.

These efforts contributed to improvements in key financial soundness indicators, including a decline in both the NPL ratio and PF delinquency rates for two consecutive quarters. However, with the real estate market still underperforming, new non-performing assets are expected to emerge.

The authorities must therefore maintain heightened vigilance and continue with the resolution and restructuring of existing NPLs, and implementation of rigorous asset quality management frameworks across all financial institutions exposed to PF risk.

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Tokyo – July 1, 2025 – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announces a key senior leadership appointment in Japan, as the firm continues to expand its footprint in the market and strengthen its commitment to Japan.
 
Muneya Taniguchi will join as Vice Chairman of Japan and Executive Advisor to lead the firm’s expansion, primarily focusing on western Japan. Prior to Blackstone, he was with MUFG Bank as Deputy President and with Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities as Deputy Chairman, building relationships and guiding business strategies in western Japan.
 
Atsuhiko Sakamoto, Head of Private Equity, Blackstone Japan, said: “We are pleased to welcome industry veteran Muneya to our Blackstone Japan team. His expertise will be invaluable as we continue to expand our presence in the market and stay differentiated through our scale and partnerships. We are coming on the heels of our most active year in Japan across businesses, investing in fantastic businesses and assets and delivering for investors.”
 
He continued: “Japan is an integral part of Blackstone’s global business and a key driver of our growth. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our Japanese partners and investors – some who have entrusted us since our founding days 40 years ago.”
 
Blackstone has executed a number of high-profile transactions in the country, including investing in Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, the largest real estate investment by a foreign investor; Amutus (formerly Infocom), the leading provider of digital comics; Sony Payment Services, carveout of Sony’s payment service provider; I’rom, a preeminent Japanese site management organization; and CMIC, Japan’s top contract research organization. In Private Wealth, the firm has been a pioneer, partnering with leading Japanese financial institutions to create access to its four flagship strategies to individual investors.
 
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone’s $1.2 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram. 
 
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