Internet giant Tencent is leading the acquisition of 14% of Wanda Commercial Properties Co. Ltd., a part of billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group, for 34 billion yuan (US$5.37 billion), The Paper reported.
It is believed that Tencent will invest 10 billion yuan to secure 4.12% of the stake. Other investors include Suning Commerce Group, a retailer backed by Alibaba, as well as major property developer Sunac China, who will park 9.5 billion yuan to hold 3.91% of the stake.
One of China’s e-commerce giants, JD.com, will also invest 5 billion yuan for a 2.06% stake.
The investment marks the beginning of Wanda’s retreat from its roots in real estate development. The repositioned Wanda Commercial Properties will integrate the massive online traffic of these Internet and e-commerce companies with its offline business resources to help create a business model of “new retail.”
Meanwhile, Tencent and JD.com will conduct all-round cooperation with the company in areas such as online operation, user data, mobile payment, consumer finance, warehousing and logistics, as well as cloud computing services.