Wanda Drops Property From Company Name as Wang Moves Away From Development

Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co has officially changed its name to Wanda Commercial Management Group to “implement the company’s development strategy,” the firm said in a recent filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange in accordance with bond regulations.

Wanda revealed that the name change was approved by the Dalian Administration for Industry and Commerce on February 22, 2018. The relabelling forms part of Wanda’s plan to transform itself from a property developer into a development service provider and multi-channel retail operator, a strategy that Wanda Group announced in late January when it sold a 14 percent stake in the commercial property subsidiary to an investor group led by Tencent.

Wanda said in its statement announcing the January deal that the company will step back from the property development business in one to two years to focus exclusively on commercial management. The company, which has long been China’s biggest commercial property developer also noted that it plans to be relisted on a domestic stock exchange at the earliest opportunity.

Wanda Waits for IPO Approval as It Sheds Assets

Wanda Commercial Properties applied for a listing on Shanghai Stock Exchange last year, less than a year after its delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2016. The company is now the 60th firm in line awaiting initial public offering approval on the stock exchange, according to local media reports.

The group chaired by billionaire Wang Jianlin has attempted to shed over $9 billion worth of assets over the past year in a campaign to ease financial strains following an overseas acquisition binge. Wanda’s hotel arm sold its pair of Australian projects in Sydney and the Gold Coast for A$315 million ($247 million) late January.

The deal was signed days after Wanda offloaded its stake in its landmark London project One Nine Elms on River Thames for about £59 million ($81.5 million) to Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties.