news

"The war investment funds are progressing normally." On August 12, an insider said about Wanda's current situation. Recently, Wanda has frequently sold assets. What is the financial situation of Wanda after the official announcement of the war investment? It has attracted attention in the industry.

Public information shows that on August 12, the equity structure of Wanda Plaza in Xinghua, Jiangsu changed. Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., Ltd. was no longer the wholly-owned shareholder, and Xinghua Yingleida Real Estate Co., Ltd. became the new wholly-owned shareholder. At the same time, the legal representative was changed from Wang Zhibin to Zhou Chuanjun.

This is not the first time Wanda has sold assets this year. It has previously transferred its Wanda Plaza-affiliated companies several times.

For example, on July 11, Dongguan Houjie Wanda Plaza Investment Co., Ltd. underwent a shareholding change. The original wholly-owned shareholder, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., Ltd., withdrew and Suzhou Lianshang No. 6 Commercial Management Co., Ltd. took over. The actual controller of Suzhou Lianshang No. 6 Commercial Management Co., Ltd., Sunshine Life Insurance Co., Ltd., has taken over Wanda's companies several times.

In addition, Yichun Wanda Plaza and Yantai Zhifu Wanda also changed their shareholders this year. In April this year, Beijing Wanda Plaza, where Wanda’s headquarters is located, was replaced byXinhua InsuranceAccording to incomplete statistics, Wanda has sold nearly 30 Wanda Plazas since 2023, including core assets in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

In May this year, there were rumors that PAG was considering acquiring nearly 500 Wanda Plazas with a valuation of 100 billion yuan, but the news was immediately denied. People familiar with the matter said that Wanda Group owns nearly 300 plazas. Based on the asset value of Wanda Plazas previously sold, each plaza is valued at about 1.5 billion yuan. The valuation of 300 plazas should be around 450 billion yuan, much higher than the rumored 100 billion yuan.

Although the overall sale is not true, from the current situation, Wanda is indeed selling assets piecemeal in exchange for cash flow through the "scattered sale" method.

In addition to "selling assets", Wanda has also frequently attracted attention for its equity freeze. Tianyancha information shows that recently, Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd. added a new equity freeze information. The company whose equity was executed was Beijing Wanda Cultural Tourism Industry Co., Ltd., and the frozen equity amount was 100 million yuan. The freezing period is from July 30, 2024 to July 29, 2027.

According to the information, Beijing Wanda Cultural Tourism Industry Co., Ltd. was established on May 9, 2024. It is wholly owned by Wanda Group and its legal representative is Zhang Chunyuan. Its business scope includes tourism development project planning and consulting, organizing cultural and artistic exchange activities, scenic spot management, and passenger ticket agency.

This has caused some confusion in the industry, after all, Wanda has already attracted a luxurious "war investment group". At the beginning of the year, Wanda said that PAG will join other investors to reinvest in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management after the investment redemption period expires and the Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group redeems it.

On March 30 this year, PAG, CITIC Capital, Ares Management's fund (Ares), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala Investment Company signed an investment agreement in Dalian, and will jointly invest approximately RMB 60 billion in Dalian Suntech.

After the investment is finalized, Wanda Commercial Management's shareholding in the target company will be reduced from 70.15% to 40%, and external investors such as PAG will hold a total of 60% of the shares. Wanda gave up its absolute controlling stake to solve the "betting problem" of Zhuhai Wanda's listing and deal with the repurchase amount of more than 30 billion yuan. After the new investment is in place, the listing betting crisis will be resolved and cash flow will be generated.

According to information at the time, the above investment funds will be paid out in one lump sum and are expected to be completed in the second quarter. At present, the matter is still in progress. From the perspective of equity, as of press time, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management is still the major shareholder of Dalian Xindameng, and the new shareholder has not yet entered. "The war investment funds are progressing normally, just a little later than expected, but still progressing normally." A person familiar with Wanda told reporters.

It is worth noting that in the newly signed investment agreement, some existing investors will withdraw. However, people familiar with the matter said that the vast majority of investors retain their investment in Wanda, and more importantly, new investors have entered. By introducing new investors, Wanda has eliminated the risk of gambling and will also gradually obtain considerable incremental funds.

Recently, there is news that Wanda Commercial Management has obtained commitments from multiple banks to provide loans of more than 10 billion yuan to fulfill the "bet" agreement, includingShanghai Pudong Development BankSeveral banks have promised to provide loans to the group to buy back the shares of investors before the initial public offering (IPO). However, Wanda has not responded to the financing news as of press time.