A Missing Tycoon’s Links to China’s Troubled Dalian Wanda<br />But a review of documents indicates that business associates of Mr. Xiao were involved both in the process leading up to Wanda’s 2014 initial public offering in Hong Kong<br />and its privatization less than two years later, according to numerous corporate filings in China and Hong Kong.<br />Now both Wanda and that billionaire, Xiao Jianhua, are under official pressure in China — and one Wanda insider says that may not be a coincidence.<br />One firm that helped Wanda finance the buyout was an investment vehicle controlled by a partnership<br />called Pohua JT Capital Partners, according to corporate records in Hong Kong.<br />Wanda is one of a number of companies in China that have come to be known as gray rhinos: politically connected private companies<br />that have invested billions of dollars abroad and borrowed heavily from Chinese banks.<br />A business partner of Mr. Xiao, Yang Hongwei, held a senior position at an investment firm that helped oversee a Wanda private share sale in 2009.<br />It is not clear whether Wanda actively sought his help or whether Mr. Xiao’s connections<br />in the Chinese business world are so extensive that they could be difficult to avoid.
