Allianz Said to Have Rejected Buyout Offers From HNA, Anbang and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

China’s troubled conglomerates dominate the headlines today as HNA, Anbang and Wanda continue to face a cascade of financial and regulatory issues. Both HNA and Anbang are said to have been shooed away from bids for Germany insurer Allianz, while Wanda seems to be struggling to find investors for its trouble Internet business. Meanwhile, robots are taking over China’s warehouses, and there’s much more if you just keep on reading.

Allianz Said to Have Rejected Buyout Offers From HNA, Anbang

China’s Anbang Insurance Group and HNA Group both considered buying into German insurer Allianz SE this year as part of plans to become global financial powerhouses, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The separate talks, which were at an early stage and did not result in formal bids, were called off earlier this year due to expected regulatory hurdles in Germany and China and the fact that Allianz (ALVG.DE) showed little interest, they added. Read more>>

Goldman Sachs Drops HNA Unit IPO Work Over Transparency Issues

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 0.48% has stopped working on the potential listing of a Chinese company owned by HNA Group Co. because of concerns about the acquisitive conglomerate’s ownership structure, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Goldman in recent months was tapped by HNA to arrange financing for Pactera Technology International Ltd., a Beijing-based information-technology outsourcing firm, ahead of a planned initial public offering. Read more>>

Wanda Delays Plans to Sell Shares in Internet Unit

Dalian Wanda Group Co. delayed a 10-billion-yuan ($1.5 billion) share-sale plan for its internet unit amid mounting scrutiny from the Chinese government, a person familiar with the matter said.

The series A fundraising, an early round of investment, for closely held Wanda Internet Technology Group will be pushed back until at least early next year, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Read more>>

Wanda Says It’s Suing Over Wang Jianlin Rumours

Dalian Wanda Group said it has taken legal action in China and is considering legal action through US courts in relation to what it says are false reports and “malicious rumors” related to company founder and chairman Wang Jianlin.

The company said in a statement on its website on Wednesday that it had filed suit on Tuesday, without specifying details of the offensive comments. Read more>>

 

Ecommerce Giant JD.Com Opens Robot Warehouse

A Chinese tech giant has opened its first fully automated sorting center where robots and machines handle 9,000 online shopping orders per hour – with hardly a human in sight. The brand-new facility, run by Alibaba arch-rival JD, does the work that would normally be done by 180 human sorters.

JD, which differentiates itself from Alibaba, China’s top ecommerce company, by being more like Amazon in supplying and handling many of its orders, employs 17,540 people at its other warehouses. Read more>>

Mall in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po Put on Market for $115M

The three-storey retail complex known as the Golden Digital in Sham Shui Po has been put up for sale with an asking price of HK$900 million (US$115 million), or roughly HK$25,000 per square foot, according to agents.

The retail arcade at the intersection of Yen Chow Street and Fuk Wing Street could generate monthly rental income of up to HK$2.4 million after rebranding and tenant restructuring, said Alfred Wong Wing-chun, associate director of capital markets and investment services at Colliers International. Read more>>

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