Wanda’s Wang Jianlin has seen his dreams of a global empire fade to black
The travails of a developer who was once Asia’s richest man lead the way in today’s list of real estate news from around the region, as the president of France announces the end of a Paris project backed by Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group.
Not only did the head of China’s largest commercial developer see another of his overseas projects founder, but Wang’s son found himself on a debtor blacklist and the latest Forbes Rich List moved the Wanda boss down to fourteenth among the mainland’s wealthiest people.
Also in the news, the biggest site to be auctioned on Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak airport runway draws just four bids and some former WeWork staff are suing the company’s current and former management for sending their stock value up in smoke.
All these stories and more await you in today’s headline roundup.
French President Calls a Halt to $3.3B Wanda Retail Project in France
French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to scrap a 3 billion euro ($3.32 billion) shopping and leisure complex project that French retail group Auchan and Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda planned to build just outside Paris, the Elysee Palace said on Thursday.
The “EuropaCity” project near Paris, which Wanda had agreed to invest in during 2016, included features such as a circus and an indoor ski slope as well as shops and restaurants, and was supposed to open in 2027. The end of the resort and shopping project is the latest overseas venture by Wang Jianlin’s Wanda to end in frustration. Read more>>
Kai Tak Land Sale Receives Just 4 Bids as HK Market Slows
The tender for a sea-facing plot of land on the runway of Hong Kong’s former airport received only four bids even after its valuation was cut by 15 per cent to reflect the worsening state of the city’s economy following five months of social unrest, the US-China trade war and a looming vacancy tax. The four bids are on par with a record for the lowest number of bids, set by Area 4A Site 1, another plot, in July.
Sun Hung Kai Properties, CK Asset Holdings, a consortium of Sino Land Company, Great Eagle Holdings and Chinese Estates Holdings as well as a consortium of China Overseas Land & Investment, Henderson Land Development, The Wharf (Holdings) and K Wah International put in bids for the residential parcel, Area 4A Site 2, in Kai Tak. The plot can yield a gross floor area of 1.2 million sq ft, or 18.66 soccer fields. Read more>>
Dalian Wanda Chairman’s Son, Wang Sicong, Cited for Debts After Fund Frozen
A court in China has publicly named the only son of Wang Jianlin, the chairman of private conglomerate Dalian Wanda and one of country’s richest men, as a debtor owing at least 150 million yuan ($21.5 million), a news website reported.
China’s Supreme Court published a notice on its website saying that a court in Beijing had identified the son, Wang Sicong, as a debtor, the news website, called The Paper and backed by the Shanghai government, reported. Read more>>
WeWork Minority Shareholders Sue After Botched IPO
WeWork officials, including co-founder and former Chief Executive Adam Neumann, are being sued by minority shareholders to recoup losses as the shared workspace provider pulled its initial public offering and saw its value plunge more than 87%.
In a proposed class action filed this week in San Francisco Superior Court, former WeWork employee Natalie Sojka accused the company’s board of directors of breaching its fiduciary duties to minority shareholders like her. Read more>>
CapitaLand Confirms HK$582M Sheung Wan Sale to Hanison
CapitaLand has sold a serviced residence in Hong Kong for HK$581.8 million (S$101 million) to an unnamed third party, according to a bourse filing on Friday.
The blue-chip developer said that it has divested fully from a unit that owns Citadines Mercer Hong Kong in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, in line with a strategy to rejig the property portfolio.
CapitaLand added that the price tag – which was reached on a willing buyer, willing seller basis – took into account the net asset value of the property owner, as well as the agreed value of Citadines Mercer Hong Kong, which was pegged at HK$740.8 million as at Oct 31. Read more>>
Baring PE Asia Emerges as Sole Bidder for Indian Real Estate Finance Firm
In an exact rerun of last year’s developments, Baring PE Asia has emerged as the sole bidder to acquire a controlling stake in Can Fin HomesNSE -1.63 %, the housing finance subsidiary of state-run Canara Bank. Two other contenders, Aditya Birla CapitalNSE 2.54 % and Warburg Pincus, pulled out just ahead of the deadline on Thursday.
In June this year, the bank received board approval to revive plans to sell part or its entire 29.99% in the listed housing finance company. Read more>>
Wealthy Chinese Lose Taste for US Homes
Over the past 10 months, Bei Qin, a realtor in Silicon Valley, California, has not had any clients from China, a market that used to be her major source of business.
“We had the best business in 2016 and 2017. Every day, we had inquiries from Chinese buyers and every week our WeChat account had more than 10 new subscribers,” said Qin, president of ACEQ Investment Group in Cupertino. “Now, those days are gone.”
After a decade of increasing investment by wealthy Chinese in residential property purchases in the United States the biggest proportion of international buyers for seven consecutive years purchases plunged by 56 percent in the 12 months to March, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors, or NAR. Read more>>
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