By: Donny Kwok
HONG KONG: Wanda Hotel Development Co Ltd , a unit of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group led by Wang Jianlin, said it would buy assets worth over 7 billion yuan ($1.05 billion) from Wang-controlled companies as part of a restructuring.
The Hong Kong-listed company said it would buy the entire equity interest in theme park operator Wanda Culture Travel Innovation Group Co Ltd from Wang’s Beijing Wanda Culture Industry Group Co Ltd for 6.3 billion yuan.
The deal would be settled either in cash or through the issue of shares or convertible bonds, it added.
It will also buy hotel operator Wanda Hotel Management (Hong Kong) Co Ltd from Wang’s Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd for 750 million yuan in cash, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse late on Wednesday.
Wanda Hotel said it would then sell its interest in Wanda Properties Investment Ltd, Wanda International Real Estate Investment Co Ltd, Wanda Americas Real Estate Investment Co Ltd and Wanda Australia Real Estate Co Ltd to Wang’s Dalian Wanda Commercial for an amount that is yet to be fixed.
It gave no further details.
Trading in Wanda Hotel shares, which were suspended on Wednesday, will resume on Thursday.
Chinese banks have been told to stop providing funding for several of Wanda’s overseas acquisitions as Beijing tries to curb the conglomerate’s offshore buying spree, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Run by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, Wanda is one of a handful of Chinese conglomerates that have expanded aggressively abroad over the past few years, into areas well beyond their original business – in this case, property.
Last month, Dalian Wanda Group altered a deal with developer Sunac China after banks scrutinised their credit risk, by bringing in another developer, Guangzhou R&F Properties .
($1 = 6.6720 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Source: Reuters