Tencent Holdings Ltd is leading the acquisition of 14% of billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Wanda Commercial for 34 billion yuan ($5.4 billion), a deal that will begin the target company’s retreat from real estate development.
Online mall JD.com Inc., Sunac China Holdings Ltd and Suning Commerce Group Co.—a retailer backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd—will also take part in the acquisition of shares owned by private investors who backed Wanda’s delisting plan in 2016, the Chinese company said on its website.
Wang, once China’s richest man, is extending a global sell-off of assets to fund debt repayments. Last week, the real estate mogul said Wanda wouldn’t experience any defaults and intended to pay off overseas debt through all necessary means, including asset disposals.
His Dalian Wanda Group Co. has agreed to sell both of its Australia property projects for A$315 million ($255 million) in the latest of a wave of deals intended to raise cash abroad for the formerly acquisitive conglomerate.
Wanda Commercial, the country’s largest owner and operator of shopping malls, was delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2016 in a $4.4 billion privatization. Should the company fail to get listed on mainland Chinese markets by September, Wang would have had to pay back investors who backed the buyout with a 12% annual return for domestic investors, and 10% for those overseas.
As part of the deal announced Monday, the company will change its name and begin shedding real estate development operations over the next one to two years, Wanda Commercial added. Suning said in a separate statement it’s taking 3.91% of the company for 9.5 billion yuan. Bloomberg.
Source: Mint