Wang Jianlin has once again sold the wholly-owned subsidiary of Wanda Hotel Development, a hotel asset under his umbrella. The annual report shows that Wanda Hotel Development Company incurred a loss of 989 million Hong Kong dollars in 2024, with a loss of 12.6 Hong Kong dollars per share for the ordinary shareholders of the parent company.
On the evening of April 17th, Wanda Hotel Development announced its intention to sell 100% equity of Wanda Hotel Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, to Tongcheng Travel for 2.497 billion RMB.
According to reports, Wanda Hotel Development is one of the core assets of Dalian Wanda Commercial Group and is the main operating entity of the entire “Wanda Group” hotel business. As per a previous announcement by Wanda Hotel Development, its controlling shareholder is Wanda Commercial Properties Overseas Ltd., with a 65.04% stake, and Wang Jianlin is the actual controller behind Wanda Overseas.
Analysts believe that Wanda’s sale of its core hotel business assets is likely for the purpose of repaying maturing debts on time. Wanda is set to pay off a 250 million yuan bond on April 29th.
On April 7, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management announced a plan to prepay the “22 Dalian Wanda MTN001” bond with a remaining balance of 250 million yuan, originally due on July 7, 2025, but now proposed for early repayment on April 29, 2025.
The financial situation of Wanda Hotel Development has played a role in driving the decision to sell this time.
The 2024 annual report of Wanda Hotel Development shows a loss of 989 million Hong Kong dollars in 2024, with a loss of 12.6 Hong Kong dollars per share for ordinary shareholders of the parent company. Among which, the hotel operations and management services division had a profit of 138 million HKD; the hotel design and construction management services division incurred a loss of 98.5 million HKD; the investment property leasing division had a profit of 42.5 million HKD; and the overseas property trading and leasing division suffered a loss of 1.046 billion HKD.
The business of Wanda Hotel Development is mainly divided into four parts: hotel operations and management services, hotel design and construction management services, investment property leasing, and overseas trading and leasing of properties. The target company sold this time, Wanda Hotel Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., is responsible for the hotel business, engaged in hotel management, operation, design, construction management, and related consulting services, possessing comprehensive hotel management and operation capabilities.
It is worth noting that insiders have indicated that this transaction only involves the transfer of hotel management operations, while existing hotel property assets owned by Wanda will continue to be held by the Wanda Group. A real estate industry analyst remarked, “This means that in the future, Wanda can still generate a stable cash flow through property leasing, but will no longer bear the risks of hotel operations losses.”
However, according to the relevant rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the transfer of equity of Wanda Hotel Management (Hong Kong) Ltd. by Wanda Hotel Development still needs to be approved by a shareholder meeting of the listed company before it can take effect.
In recent years, Wanda has taken measures to improve its asset-liability structure by selling Wanda Plaza assets and advancing the restructuring of its Zhuhai commercial management operations.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2024 alone, Wanda sold nearly 26 Wanda Plaza assets and transferred its stake in the American Legendary Entertainment. It also sold the British luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker International for around 160 million pounds. Against the backdrop of a deep adjustment in the real estate industry, Wang Jianlin is navigating through challenges by liquidating assets, among other means.