China developer Wanda sells 60% of mall unit in $8.3 billion deal

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A group of investors led by private equity firm PAG on Saturday announced an investment of $8.3 billion for a 60% stake in Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda’s mall unit.

Dalian Wanda will retain 40% in Newland Commercial Management, the holding company of Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co, the statement said.

CITIC Capital, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company and Ares Management Corporation were also joint investors in the deal.

“We like the competitive edge and first mover advantage that Newland has built and we think these advantages will allow it to generate stable and growing cash flow to investors,” said David Wong, partner and co-head of private equity at PAG.

Newland manages 496 large shopping malls across China, the statement said.

In December last year, PAG and Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group jointly announced the signing of an investment framework to restructure Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management. The agreement signed on Saturday, implements this agreement, the statement said.

(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Kim Coghill)