Title Image**: Network.
Reporter丨Li Huilin Editor丨Tan Lu.
After the VAM crisis was resolved, Wang Jianlin was still selling assets non-stop.
In mid-January,Xiamen Dianqian Wanda Plaza has undergone a change in equityThe shareholder of the company was changed from Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management to Xiamen Jinshengyang Real Estate.
This is already the 10th Wanda Plaza that has changed hands.
In dealing with crises, Wang Jianlin has always been decisive and decisive. In the last round of liquidity crisis, he sold off 77 hotels and 13 cultural tourism projects in one fell swoop.
This time, he relinquished control of Wanda Film and Wanda Commercial Management, repaid more than 18 billion yuan of public debts a year, and resolved the crisis of the 38 billion yuan VAM agreement at a critical juncture.
The pressure of debt repayment is especially high, and Lao Wang regroups and tries his best to cope with the next level. After realizing a number of assets, he also owns more than 200 Wanda Plazas.
Endure the pain and cut the flesh
The Xiamen project is just a continuation of a series of actions.
At the end of December 2023, Wang Jianlin sold 4 Wanda Plazas in Suzhou, Huzhou, Guangzhou, and Shanghai in 5 days. With the addition of the previous 5 transfers, a total of 10 Wanda Plazas were sold.
It is reported that Wanda Group is considering 20 commercial centers under **, each with a valuation of 700 million to 800 million yuan.
According to this estimate, after selling 10 shopping malls, Wang Jianlin will return a maximum of 8 billion yuan.
Wanda Plaza is Wang Jianlin's most core asset, he once said that Wanda Group can lose any enterprise, only Wanda Commercial can not lose, just with this one enterprise, "Wanda Group can let the wind and waves rise, sit firmly on the fishing boat."
Indeed, in the first 6 months of 2023,In terms of rental income alone, Wang Jianlin recorded 13 billion yuan
This business has certain anti-cyclical attributes and stable revenue.
In addition to self-owned shopping malls, Wang Jianlin also wielded a knife in the asset-light business and sold Foshan Shunde Wanda Plaza to Midea Real Estate. Recently, the plaza has been renamed Joy Plaza.
Midea Real Estate told the "21CBR" reporter that in March 2018, Wanda Commercial Management Group was entrusted to carry out commercial asset-light operation and management.
After friendly negotiation between the two parties, the cooperation will be terminated at the end of December 2023. The other party did not reply to the reason for the termination of the cooperation.
In addition to selling assets,Wang Jianlin has also ceded actual control of his company several times
Last year, Wang Jianlin transferred the equity of Wanda Film four times, and sold 20% of the equity of Wanda Film to China Ruyi in early December, retiring as the second largest shareholder, with a total of 9 billion yuan of funds.
Start anew
The prospectus submitted by Wang Jianlin expired for the fourth time at the end of last year, and its listing filing status stayed in the state of "supplementary materials".
After successive setbacks, Lao Wang seems to want to "start anew" and fight in the capital market again with a new identity.
On the same day that Wanda Plaza in front of Xiamen Palace sold itself, on January 16, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management added new foreign investment to 9999% of the shareholding ratio, the establishment of "Xinda Alliance Commercial Management".
This new company with the names of "Wanda" and "PAG".The registered capital is as high as 16.2 billion yuanThe main business includes commercial complex management services, enterprise management consulting, enterprise management, etc.
The new company is headed by Xiao Guangrui, a veteran of Wanda, as a legal person, and the company's supervisor is Ma Jun, who is also a supervisor of Dalian Wanda Commercial Management.
There is speculation in the industry that Xinda Alliance Commercial Management may be a new platform created by Wang Jianlin to introduce new strategic investors and impact the IPO.
This speculation is not unreasonable.
In mid-December last year, in order to get rid of the pressure of 38 billion yuan of VAM repurchase,Wang Jianlin signed a new agreement with PAG, lost absolute control of Wanda Commercial Management.
According to the new agreement, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management's shareholding in Wanda Commercial Management will increase from 7883% fell to 40%, and the Wang Jianlin family's shareholding fell to about 20%.
Several shareholders such as PAG participated in the investment, holding a total of 60% of the shares.
The IPO was blocked, and Wang Jianlin had to deal with multiple debt hurdles in the short term.
As of the end of June 2023,Dalian Wanda Commercial Management's consolidated interest-bearing liabilities are 1412$8.3 billion, of which 292 expire in one year5.7 billion yuan, and only 160 billion monetary funds in hand1.5 billion yuan.
Wang Jianlin does not have many channels to raise funds.
In the semi-annual report, the company reminded that due to the impact of the refinancing channels in the open market not being restored for the time being, and the progress of Zhuhai Wanda's listing is not as expected, the bonds will fluctuate further and the difficulty of refinancing will increase.
If the IPO can be launched again, it can solve the financial problem and help other shareholders to liquidate.
The foundation is still there
When business is going well, at the end of each year, Wanda's annual party is always lively, and Wang Jianlin will also show his singing voice.
Starting from 2021, Wanda's annual meeting will be simplified from complex, and Wang Jianlin will return to a low profile.
In mid-January this year, Wang Jianlin, who had little interest, still appeared at the Wanda Vista Hotel in Beijing and made a brief report, the core content of which was divided into two points: last year's work summary and next year's work deployment.
According to a relevant person from Wanda, one of the tasks mentioned by Wang Jianlin at the annual meeting in 2024 is to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Even though "money is tight", compared with other real estate companies that are mired in debt, Wang Jianlin took the lead in transforming into asset-light, and the situation is still passable.
First of all, he got rid of the shackles of heavy assets, was less dragged down by the downturn in real estate, earned rent and management fees, and had relatively stable performance.
In the past three years, Wanda Commercial Management has maintained overall growth except for a slight decline in profits in 2022. Revenue for the first half of 2023 is 2545.2 billion yuan, net profit of 67$2.9 billion.
Secondly, Lao Wang's family has a rich background.
As of the end of 2022, Wanda Commercial Management managed 472 shopping malls, of which 288 were self-owned and 10 were soldThere are also 278, which is still one of the best in China
There are also 181 projects in the pipeline, of which 163 are from independent third parties.
Under the asset-light strategy, Wang Jianlin does not need to invest a lot of money in the early stage of development and operation, and is only responsible for the planning, design, construction, operation and management of the project.
*: Wanda Commercial Management.
This round of Wang Jianlin** Wanda Plaza and hotels will still be operated and managed by Wanda Commercial Management in the future, retain the Wanda brand, and implement asset-light management.
Wanda Plaza has a stable operation and has the opportunity to benefit from consumer public REITs.
Last year, Lao Wang was already preparing for the issuance of relevant public REITs, which, if successful, would greatly ease liquidity.
Recently, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and the People's Bank of China jointly issued a document clarifying that operating property loans can be used to repay debts, which is also good for Wanda.
In any case, in the new year, Wang Jianlin's challenges are still there, and the biggest storm has passed.