Dalian Wanda, in a Switch, Sells Assets to 2 Chinese Companies
The signing was dominated by the announcement that Sunac would pay $6.5 billion for a 91 percent stake in
Wanda’s 13 theme parks across China, while R&F Properties would buy 77 hotels from Wanda for $3 billion.
By SUI-LEE WEE and ZHANG TIANTIANJULY 19, 2017
BEIJING — Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate, tore up a $9.3 billion agreement to sell a portfolio of hotels and theme parks, unexpectedly reaching new deals on the properties
that highlighted uncertainty over the financial health of the country’s biggest companies.
Wanda had reached an overall agreement with the property firm Sunac China Holdings last week, but Wanda announced at a signing ceremony on Wednesday
that it was backtracking and would instead sell just the theme parks to Sunac.
The Chinese news media later posted photographs showing that the logo of R&F Properties had been removed from the sign announcing the deal.
“If it turns out to be government pressure, it would be typical of what we have been seeing
— the government becoming more interventionist in the financial markets,” he said.
It is also further evidence that Chinese companies have been under greater official pressure to reduce their piles of loans, because the financial authorities have been alarmed
that debt-fueled acquisitions by conglomerates could put the broader Chinese economy at risk.