Second buyer joins Wanda asset sale as expansion hit by Chinese foreign investment halt

The Dalian Wanda group’s expansion plans are set to be impacted by a restriction on funding for six key foreign investments placed by Chinese banks.

The entertainment and real estate giant has expanded massively in recent years, becoming the world’s biggest operator of cinemas while also acquiring the Infront Sports & Media and World Triathlon along with a stake in Spanish football team Club Atletico de Madrid.

However, Wanda's heavy investments have attracted the attention of Chinese regulators with some of these acquisitions being investigated over investment violations, as a result of which Chinese banks will reportedly be prevented from providing financial support for these and other investments.

The scrutiny is a pronounced setback for Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin, one of China’s richest men, and his global entertainment ambitions.

Following a surprise move earlier this month to first sell off the majority of Wanda’s theme park and hotel portfolio and then loan its purchaser billions of dollars to finance the deal, a second buyer has become involved in the sale.

Wanda took a step back from its plan to become the world’s largest tourism entity earlier this month, announcing the sale of 91% of its physical assets to property developer Sunac China Holdings in a deal worth CN¥63.18bn (US$9.3 billion). Following the announcement, it emerged that Wanda was part-financing its own sale, lending the buyer CN¥29.6bn (US$4.3 billion) to push the deal through.

However, this week it has emerged that Guangzhou-based R&F Properties is acquiring Wanda’s portfolio of 77 hotels instead of Sunac.

A joint statement from the three groups explained “this cooperation not only coincides with Wanda’s transformation strategy, but also provides Sunac with favorable conditions and the chance to realise professional and scaled development in the field of cultural tourism, while the hotel business is also advantageous for R&F.

“We believe that Sunac and Wanda will establish more and better cooperation in cultural tourism, healthcare and other fields, and that Sunac will have in-depth strategic cooperation with Wanda in such fields as film and other areas.”

As part of Wanda’s grand tourism plan, the group says it will build at least 20 cultural tourism enterprises across China, with the company stating that even with its new asset-light strategy “projects will continue to be developed according to the plans and their contents approved by the government”.

Wanda’s massive theme park expansion - three of which opened within the last year - had originally been developed to compete with the Disneyland Shanghai Resort, with Wang confidently declaring that Disney’s “one tiger” was no match for Wanda’s “pack of wolves.”

Images: Wanda's Xishuangbanna International Resort (top) and Wang Jianlin at the recent launch of Wanda's targeted Poverty Alleviation Program in the province of Guizhou (below).

16th July 2017 - CHINESE BACKED THEME PARK TO OPEN ON GOLD COAST WITHIN THREE YEARS

10th July 2017 - DALIAN WANDA GROUP SELLS US$9.3 BILLION OF TOURISM ASSETS

29th May 2017  - DALIAN WANDA GROUP TO BUILD NEW CENTRAL ASIAN THEME PARKS 

8th May 2017 - WORLD’S LARGEST INDOOR SNOW PARK OPENING IN CHINESE CITY OF HARBIN

2nd December 2016 - WANDA TO EXPAND TOURISM EMPIRE WITH US$30 BILLION INVESTMENT

18th November 2016 - WANDA GROUP SELECTS PREMIER RIDES TO DEVELOP ‘WORLD FIRST’ THEME PARK ATTRACTION

15th November 2016 - INVESTMENTS IN CHINA’S THEME PARKS DRIVING ASIAN TOURISM

18th October 2016 - NEW DALIAN WANDA CULTURAL THEME PARK OPENS IN SOUTHERN CHINA

27th July 2016 - WANDA GROUP AIMS TO TRIPLE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORT REVENUE BY 2020

23rd May 2016 - DALIAN WANDA HEAD SLAMS DISNEY SHANGHAI RESORT 

2nd April 2016 - IRONMAN 70.3 RACES TO BE HELD IN CHINA 

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