China’s Wanda Signals Retreat in Debt-Fueled Acquisition Binge<br />Wanda said on Monday that it would sell the theme parks as part of a $9.3 billion deal<br />that includes 76 hotels and a major chunk of 13 tourism projects.<br />Sunac would pay $4.4 billion for a 91 percent stake in each of the 13 tourism projects, all in China, and would take over the loans for the projects.<br />By SUI-LEE WEEJULY 10, 2017<br />BEIJING — A year ago, the Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin declared the dominance of his vast entertainment empire, Dalian Wanda Group, boasting<br />that his theme parks were a “pack of wolves” that would defeat the lone “tiger” of Disney’s Shanghai resort.<br />In the deal with Sunac, Wanda would continue to operate all of the projects under<br />the company’s brand name, and it would own fewer underperforming hotels.<br />The cash from the deal, with the property developer Sunac China, would be used to pay down debt.<br />“Wanda is selling the noncore part of its cultural tourism business,” said Deng Zhihao, a<br />real estate economist with Fineland Assets Management Company based in Guangzhou, China.<br />When Disney opened its Shanghai resort last year, drawing enormous crowds, Mr. Wang declared<br />that “the frenzy of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the era of blindly following them have passed.”<br />Such aggressive expansion plans are now under increased scrutiny in Beijing.
