Dalian Wanda Group said that it is now ready to sell their Chinese tourism projects and hotels to Sunac China for $9.3 billion, marking a step back from its ambitious endeavors.
The sale represents the second biggest real estate deal ever in China as per the official data of a news media website.
Wanda said that it is willing to sell 91% of 13 cultural tourism projects especially including theme parks and leisure complexes and also 76 hotels to the Tianjin-based developer Sunac for about 63.19 billion yuan. The Chinese group boasts of businesses, entertainment and sports and also harbors plans to create at least 20 such cultural projects around China.
Last year, its owner Wang Jianlin said that this ‘wolf pack’ of pearls would be surpassing its U.S. rival, Walt Disney Co.
Qin Gang, a senior researcher at State Information Center that is a government-associated thinktank asserted that this deal signifies a retreat from the previous strategy in cultural tourism. Wanda, however has not offered any reason for the sale. It is believed that the deal is likely to minimize the debt levels of Wanda and go a long way in achieving an ‘asset-light’ operation.
Wanda has started investing quite heavily in financial businesses, leisure and entertainment.
Wanda’s tourism projects’ 91% stake is likely to fetch about 29.58 billion yuan. Wanda and Sunac are expected to enter into the agreement by the end of this month.
