China Vanke, center of power struggle, says No. 2 shareholder has a plan

HONG KONG Property developer China Vanke (000002.SZ) (2202.HK), embroiled in a high-profile corporate power tussle for over a year, said on Thursday its No. 2 shareholder China Resources Group is considering a major plan.

The country’s second-largest developer said in a statement it had been informed on Wednesday that China Resources and a unit were ‘formulating a major plan involving its holdings in Vanke but are still finalizing the details.’

China Resources said it had nothing further to add at this point.

Vanke has been plunged into crisis ever since financial conglomerate Baoneng Group built up a 25 percent stake and sought to oust management.

To counter that, it agreed to a $6.9 billion deal with white knight Shenzhen Metro Group but last month called it off saying it could not get major shareholders to agree.

Baoneng’s shares will come out of a lock-up period that prevents them from being sold on Jan. 17, according to a Citi report.

China Resources, which owns 15.2 percent of Vanke, previously opposed the Shenzhen Metro deal but has said it was not working with Baoneng to oust management.

Complicating matters, China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), the country’s biggest homebuilder, quickly built up a stake of 14.07 percent in the latter half of last year but has since said it is not interested in seeking control of its rival.

Vanke’s shares were suspended from trade in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)