Wanda Property Management Unit Renews Hong Kong IPO Filing

In the new application, Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management updated its financial figures

Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co. Ltd., the commercial property management unit of Dalian Wanda Group, renewed its effort to sell shares in Hong Kong after two failed attempts.

Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management said it submitted an application to the Hong Kong exchange late last week. It is the third attempt by the company to make a Hong Kong initial public offering after two previous applications filed in October 2021 and April 2022 expired.

In the new application, Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management updated its financial figures. As of the end of June, the company managed 425 Wanda Plazas across the country, 11.84% more than reported in the first application.

Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management’s first-half revenue totaled 13.5 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), up 26.7% from the same period a year ago. Net cash flow from business operations was 2.7 billion yuan, up 109.3% year-on-year.

Background:
Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management is Wanda’s light asset unit created in March 2021 by restructuring property management assets with a 3 billion yuan strategic investment from the Zhuhai government.

The unit’s backers also included private equity fund PAG, Tencent Holdings and Ant Group after a pre-IPO round of funding in September 2021.

Wanda sought to take the commercial property management business public on the domestic market in 2015 but made no progress due to Beijing’s tight control over property sector financing. Wanda withdrew the mainland listing application in August and said it would consider an overseas offering after asset restructuring.

An investment banking executive said that IPO application expirations and resubmissions are not rare in Hong Kong. Expiration may be caused by factors including regulators’ inquiries, outdated financial data, or a company’s decision to slow the progress due to market environment concerns, the person said.