It's a Paradox. Trump Tower developer rebrands Sydney's Radisson
Capital gain
Sydney's historic Radisson Blu Plaza hotel, which was the original home of publisher John Fairfax & Sons, is being rebranded under the Paradox chain.
It will be the first Paradox hotel in the country. The brand is run by Macquarie University graduate and Canada's Trump Tower developer, Tiah Joo Kim.
The sandstone building at 27 O'Connell Street which covers the block to Pitt Street was built in 1856. After the Fairfax business vacated, it served as the Bank of New South Wales, then as a Westpac Bank before beginning its life in hospitality as the five-star Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in 2000.
Malaysian-based TA Global has owned the property since 1997 and plans to expand the Paradox brand around the world. The group is run by one of Malaysia's richest families and has a global portfolio of hotels in five countries including Canada, Singapore, China and Thailand.
Joo Kim was appointed chief executive at just 36, overseeing the company's portfolio, including the development of Canada's then Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver.
The rebrand will start on July 1 under the guardianship of the hotel's long-standing general manager Peter Tudehope, who is the former chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW.
Farm sale
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
How Xi's giant iron ore trader is shaking up a $200 billion market
Just three years after its founding, a Chinese government-run trader has become the single biggest force in the country's $200 billion market for iron ore imports. The rise of China Mineral Resources Group has allowed it to tame one of the world's wildest commodities markets — sending volatility in iron ore futures to a record low. It's also playing a role in negotiations with global mining companies, potentially shifting the balance of power between China's vast steel industry and major suppliers like Rio Tinto and BHP. CMRG is transforming a market that has been a thorn in the side of Chinese leaders for 15 years. Now its clout is such that its stockpiles have become akin to a national reserve, to be released when steelmakers are struggling or built up when prices are cheap, according to people familiar with its activities. 'The existence of CMRG is primarily aimed at fundamentally solving the problem of excessive dependence on iron ore imports,' said Bancy Bai, a ferrous metals analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights. 'It has established iron ore inventories in over a dozen major domestic ports.' Chinese authorities have long tried to smooth market fluctuations in markets ranging from local stocks and the yuan to key commodities, but iron ore has been an especially tricky market to manage. As the main raw material for China's one-billion-tonne steel industry, price spikes risk fuelling inflation in Asia's biggest economy. Ever since 2010 — when a system of annually negotiated contracts was ditched in favour of floating spot rates — Chinese officials and steel-mill executives have bemoaned the pricing power of iron ore majors like Rio, BHP and Brazil's Vale. During a COVID-era price surge in 2021, for example, the market became a key target for intervention as officials raised trading costs, censored industry research, urged inventory sales, and cajoled traders to halt 'malicious' speculation. President Xi Jinping's government created CMRG in 2022 with a mission to reshape China's relationship with its iron ore suppliers, taking on an intermediary role rather than leave China's fragmented steel industry at the mercy of miners and traders. CMRG is now the biggest trader of the commodity after elbowing out other players, according to market participants. It also represents more than half of China's steelmakers in talks with suppliers such as Rio Tinto and BHP, they said. Price action has been unusually placid in the past six months. While China's slowing economy and the downtrend in steel demand are a major reason, observers say CMRG has also played a role. 'A shift in marginal bargaining power from miners to mills was inevitable once peak steel passed in China,' said Joel Parsons, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at Drakewood Prospect Fund. 'The interesting question is to what extent CMRG may be accelerating the process.' Iron ore is bought and sold in different ways: on the spot market for individual, up-front shipments, or via longer-term term contracts linked to daily reference prices. After a halting start, CMRG has pushed into the spot market and had over 40 cargoes on the water as of June 19, according to an offer sheet reviewed by Bloomberg. Those included products from BHP and Rio. Vale has been absent. The Brazilian company hasn't struck spot deals with CMRG because it believes long-term contracts with Chinese mills are sufficient, said a person familiar with the matter. So far, none of the big miners currently supplies CMRG in term contracts. Talks on doing so were continuing, Simon Trott, Rio's chief executive of iron ore, said recently. CMRG, Rio, BHP and Vale all declined to comment. One advantage is that CMRG has more tolerance for losses because it's state-run, and as its presence has grown, more established trading houses have retreated, according to people familiar with the matter. The group has helped 'keep prices at the level they should be with supply and demand, rather than having those short term spikes,' Aurelia Waltham, analyst at Goldman Sachs, told a conference in Singapore last month. In an earlier note, the bank said CMRG could be holding as much as 20 million tonnes of ore at ports, based on conversations with steel mills. For those mills, getting on board with CMRG as a reliable, steady supplier is a no-brainer. But for miners, the consolidation is likely to weaken their bargaining power, setting the stage for a tussle over pricing for a long time to come. 'The unique structure of the iron ore market, with its concentrated supply from very low-cost producers and the specific quality demands, means that CMRG's leverage, while enhanced, will not be absolute,' said David Cachot, iron ore research director at Wood Mackenzie. Bloomberg
The Advertiser
5 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Trump extends deadline for US TikTok sale to September
US President Donald Trump has extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday's deadline for 90 more days, a step that he had previously signaled. The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale. Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the US. He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it's not clear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries' ongoing trade talks to resolve a tariff dispute. "We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available," TikTok said in a statement posted on its website. The company said it is continuing to work with US Vice President JD Vance's office on the matter. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure. Trump had said on Tuesday that he would "probably, yeah," extend the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it." A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce the law. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19. In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans. A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Some Democrats argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements. US President Donald Trump has extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday's deadline for 90 more days, a step that he had previously signaled. The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale. Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the US. He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it's not clear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries' ongoing trade talks to resolve a tariff dispute. "We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available," TikTok said in a statement posted on its website. The company said it is continuing to work with US Vice President JD Vance's office on the matter. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure. Trump had said on Tuesday that he would "probably, yeah," extend the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it." A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce the law. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19. In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans. A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Some Democrats argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements. US President Donald Trump has extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday's deadline for 90 more days, a step that he had previously signaled. The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale. Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the US. He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it's not clear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries' ongoing trade talks to resolve a tariff dispute. "We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available," TikTok said in a statement posted on its website. The company said it is continuing to work with US Vice President JD Vance's office on the matter. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure. Trump had said on Tuesday that he would "probably, yeah," extend the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it." A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce the law. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19. In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans. A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Some Democrats argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements. US President Donald Trump has extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday's deadline for 90 more days, a step that he had previously signaled. The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale. Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the US. He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it's not clear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries' ongoing trade talks to resolve a tariff dispute. "We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available," TikTok said in a statement posted on its website. The company said it is continuing to work with US Vice President JD Vance's office on the matter. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure. Trump had said on Tuesday that he would "probably, yeah," extend the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it." A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce the law. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19. In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans. A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Some Democrats argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements.
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
It's a Paradox. Trump Tower developer rebrands Sydney's Radisson
Capital gain Sydney's historic Radisson Blu Plaza hotel, which was the original home of publisher John Fairfax & Sons, is being rebranded under the Paradox chain. It will be the first Paradox hotel in the country. The brand is run by Macquarie University graduate and Canada's Trump Tower developer, Tiah Joo Kim. The sandstone building at 27 O'Connell Street which covers the block to Pitt Street was built in 1856. After the Fairfax business vacated, it served as the Bank of New South Wales, then as a Westpac Bank before beginning its life in hospitality as the five-star Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in 2000. Malaysian-based TA Global has owned the property since 1997 and plans to expand the Paradox brand around the world. The group is run by one of Malaysia's richest families and has a global portfolio of hotels in five countries including Canada, Singapore, China and Thailand. Joo Kim was appointed chief executive at just 36, overseeing the company's portfolio, including the development of Canada's then Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver. The rebrand will start on July 1 under the guardianship of the hotel's long-standing general manager Peter Tudehope, who is the former chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW. Farm sale
