China’s Wanda Group Sells Stake To Ruyi Holdings To Pay Down Debt – Deadline

Dalian Wanda Group is promoting a 49% stake in its funding arm to native movie and TV producer China Ruyi Holdings in an on-going effort to scale back debt. 

Wanda is promoting the stake in Beijing Wanda Funding for $315M (RMB2.26BN) as a part of fundraising efforts to repay debt of $400BN due this previous weekend. 

Wanda Funding owns a 20% stake within the group’s Shenzhen-listed leisure division Wanda Movie, which operates a cinema chain in China, funds Chinese language movies and retains a stake in Dune producer Legendary Leisure. 

Earlier this month, Wanda Funding individually offered an 8.3% stake in Wanda Movie for $306N (RMB2.2BN). The client was Lu Lili, the spouse of Shen Jun, controller of monetary knowledge platform East Cash Info. 

Tencent-backed Ruyi invests in films together with current hit comedy Publish Reality and the blockbuster Detective Chinatown franchise, in addition to TV collection together with Nirvana In Fireplace. 

Dalian Wanda, a property developer turned leisure conglomerate managed by billionaire Wang Jianlin, as soon as had main ambitions in Hollywood – with plans to spend money on U.S. studios and the acquisition of North American cinema chain AMC Theatres and Legendary Leisure. 

Nonetheless, the group was hit by the Chinese language authorities’ clampdown on closely indebted corporations in 2017 and later offered off its Chinese language studios and theme parks, its Los Angeles property improvement and most of its stake in AMC. Legendary introduced in exterior capital from personal fairness group Apollo final 12 months. 

China’s present debt issues within the business property sector and the impression of the Covid-19 pandemic on the exhibition sector have additional squeezed Dalian Wanda over the previous few years. It is usually on the lookout for a purchaser for its Australian cinema chain Hoyts.