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Interface News Reporter | Niu Qichang

In order to further recover funds, the long-established A-share listed company Dongbai Group (600693.SH) plans to sell off its four warehousing and logistics projects at one time, with a total transaction price of 279 million yuan.

On the evening of August 9, Dongbai Group issued an announcement stating that the company plans to transfer 20% of the equity interests in four indirect holding companies, namely Foshan Ruiyou Warehousing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Foshan Ruiyou"), Tianjin Xingjian Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tianjin Xingjian"), Chengdu Xinjia Logistics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chengdu Xinjia") and Foshan Ruixin Logistics Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Foshan Ruixin"), to relevant subsidiaries of Blackstone Group's affiliated funds. The ultimate controller of the transferee is the U.S. listed company Blackstone Inc. (U.S. stock code: BX).

It is reported that the transaction price for 20% equity interest in the above four target companies totals RMB 279 million, all of which will be paid in cash.

Dongbai Group stated, "This transaction can effectively revitalize the company's existing assets, optimize the company's asset structure, improve the liquidity and utilization efficiency of the company's assets, increase the company's operating funds, and is in line with the company's overall interests and long-term development needs."

Interface News noted that the above four target companies were once wholly-owned subsidiaries indirectly controlled by Dongbai Group.As early as 2018 to 2020, Dongbai Group had transferred 80% of the equity of the above four target companies to subsidiaries under Blackstone Group's affiliated funds.

Public information shows that Dongbai Group was founded in 1957, and its main business is "commercial retail + warehousing and logistics", of which the warehousing and logistics projects are mainly located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the central and western regions, etc. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the controlling shareholder Fujian Fengqi Investment Co., Ltd. held a 53.30% stake, and the actual controller was Shi Wenyi.

Blackstone Group is headquartered in New York, USA. It is the largest alternative asset management company in the United States and is known as the "King of PE". As of December 31, 2023, the company's total assets were US$40.288 billion.

In 2017, Blackstone Group established Longdi, an investment management platform for logistics real estate in China. According to Longdi's official website, in terms of warehousing and logistics, Longdi manages 42 logistics parks in 19 cities in mainland China, with a total construction area of ​​more than 5 million square meters.

According to Jiemian News, in December 2018, Blackstone Group acquired 80% of the equity of Foshan Ruiyou, a subsidiary of Dongbai Group, for 284 million yuan. At the same time, Foshan Ruiyou will no longer be included in the consolidated financial statements of Dongbai Group.

Dongbai Group said at the time that the sale of Foshan Ruiyou was necessary for the company's overall development strategy, which would integrate the company's resources, enhance the company's capital reserves, and improve the company's risk resistance, which was in line with the company's long-term development and the interests of all shareholders. After the transaction is completed, the company will still hold a 20% stake in Foshan Ruiyou through Foshan Space Industry, and continue to be the property management service provider for the Foshan Leping Logistics Project, collecting relevant management service fees.

In May 2019, Blackstone Group acquired 80% of the equity of Tianjin Xingjian, a subsidiary of Dongbai Group, for 352 million yuan.

Dongbai Group stated that this transaction is another cooperation between the company and Blackstone Group in the exit of logistics projects, which is in line with the company's closed-loop operation model of "invest-build-manage-exit" for warehousing and logistics projects and the strategic idea of ​​light asset operation of logistics projects.

From March to July 2020, Dongbai Group transferred 80% of the equity of Chengdu Xinjia and Foshan Ruixin to Blackstone Group for RMB 177 million and RMB 270 million respectively.

It is worth mentioning that the total price of Dongbai Group's four transfers of logistics projects exceeded 1.083 billion yuan, and all of them were transferred at a premium. Similar to the previous times, Dongbai Group also transferred the remaining 20% ​​equity of the four targets at a premium.

in:

The book value of all shareholders' equity of Foshan Ruiyou is RMB 151 million, and the assessed value of all shareholders' equity is RMB 490 million, with an assessed value-added of RMB 339 million and an appreciation rate of 224.49%.

The book value of all shareholders' equity of Tianjin Xingjian is RMB 168 million, and the assessed value of all shareholders' equity is RMB 199 million, with an assessed value-added of RMB 30.7391 million and an appreciation rate of 18.27%.

The book value of all shareholders' equity of Chengdu Xinjia is RMB 64.9092 million, and the assessed value of all shareholders' equity is RMB 152 million, with an assessed value-added of RMB 86.6305 million and an appreciation rate of 133.46%.

The book value of all shareholders' equity of Foshan Ruixin is RMB 115 million, and the assessed value of all shareholders' equity is RMB 478 million, with an assessed value-added of RMB 363 million and an appreciation rate of 314.59%.

Finally, after negotiation between the two parties, the transaction price for 20% equity interest in the above four target companies totaled RMB 279 million, further exceeding the appraisal price of RMB 264 million.

Jiemian News noted that there were market rumors in December last year that Blackstone Group was interested in selling a Chinese logistics park asset package worth more than 10 billion yuan, and one of the potential transaction parties was a large domestic insurance fund. In response, Blackstone Group said it had not negotiated with any party on the sale of logistics assets.

According to industry insiders, the valuation of warehousing and logistics assets will be under pressure in 2023 due to the bottoming out of logistics leasing performance. As the warehousing and leasing market performance improves in the short to medium term, such assets will return to reasonable valuations. In addition, DTZ predicts that with the recovery of the domestic economy and the accelerated expansion of warehousing and logistics public REITs, the overall high-standard warehouse investment market is expected to recover moderately.