Dalian Wanda executive in charge of relisting plan quits

HONG KONG: The chief architect behind Dalian Wanda Group’s US$4.4 billion (RM19.5 billion) buyout to take its flagship Hong Kong-listed property arm private and relist it in China has resigned without seeing the plan through, according to an internal memo.

The resignation of Lu Xiaoma from the post of vice-president of Dalian Wanda Financial Group signals the difficulties the conglomerate, owned by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, was having listing the property business in China, said analysts.

Wang has yet to find a suitable shell company and gain regulatory approval for the listing of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties on the Shanghai bourse, where it hoped to attract a valuation much higher than here.

“This is not a good time for backdoor listings in China, and Wanda made too much noise about it,” said a person close to the company. “Policy arbitrage shouldn’t have been the official reason for a delisting.”

The company memo dated December 2 announcing Lu’s departure cited only “personal reasons” for the 50-year-old’s resignation.

In addition to the post of Dalian Wanda Financial Group, which was set up in October last year, Lu also resigned from the role of chief executive officer of Wanda Investment Co, a unit of the financial group. Reuters