(Reuters) -China’s Dalian Wanda Group has started negotiations on a proposal to avoid repaying about 30 billion yuan ($4.11 billion) to investors in its commercial property management business if it fails to complete its initial public offering (IPO) this year, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
The Chinese conglomerate recently told investors that an IPO of the unit, Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co, will likely take place next year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Dalian Wanda, China’s largest commercial property developer, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Wanda raised nearly $6 billion for the commercial property business in 2021 from investors including Hong Kong-based private equity firm PAG, developer Country Garden, private equity firm CITIC Capital and tech giants Tencent Holdings and billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group, Reuters reported.
In June, China’s securities watchdog asked Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group for more details on its corporate governance as part of its application for an IPO in Hong Kong.
Uncertainty over the timing of Zhuhai Wanda’s IPO has led to investor concerns over the liquidity of parent Wanda Commercial, a unit of Dalian Wanda Group.
In July, Fitch Ratings downgraded the long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) of Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group to “B” from “BB-“.
Fitch cut the ratings after a further weakening in the consolidated profile of Wanda Group, which holds 44% of Wanda Commercial, because of heightened liquidity risk at Wanda Commercial’s sister company, Wanda Properties Group, as disputes with stakeholders arose. ($1 = 7.3067 yuan)
(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Roxanne Liu in Beijing; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Christian Schmollinger)
