Dalian Wanda says report chairman prevented from leaving China is "groundless" (updated)

Wanda Hotel Development

28/08/2017 05:40

* Bowen Press said Wang Jianlin stopped at Tianjin airport 
    * Dalian Wanda says plans legal action over report 
    * Shares of Wanda Hotel partially erase losses; bonds bounce 
back 
 
 (Adds details from Wanda statement, background on group) 
    HONG KONG, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate Dalian 
Wanda Group said on Monday a report claiming its billionaire 
chairman, Wang Jianlin, was prevented from leaving the country 
was "groundless" and that it planned to take legal action.  
    Taiwanese news site Bowen Press had reported on Sunday that 
Wang, who was with his family, was stopped from leaving Tianjin 
airport on Friday and had been detained for a few hours. It was 
not clear from the report if Wang's family had also been stopped 
from leaving. 
    "That rumour first appeared in mid-August," Wanda said in a 
statement, adding it "was scotched" when it was shown that Wang 
had traveled to Lanzhou on the same day. The statement said the 
news report was issued with ill intent.   
    Bowen Press could not be immediately reached for comment. 
    Wanda, which has spent billions buying entertainment and 
sports companies in recent years, has become a target in China's 
clampdown on capital outflows, and sources say Chinese banks 
have been told to stop providing funding for several of its 
overseas acquisitions in order to curb its appetite for offshore 
deals.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1K82KV 
    Shares of Wang's Wanda Hotel Development  0169.HK  slid as 
much as 11 percent but pared the declines and were down 4.6 
percent by 0415 GMT. Bonds of Dalian Wanda group companies 
bounced back from early losses after the statement.  
    Squeezed for finance, Wanda last month agreed to sell 77 
hotels to Guangzhou R&F Properties  2777.HK  for 19.9 billion 
yuan ($3 billion) and 91 percent equity in 13 tourism projects 
to Sunac China  1918.HK  for 43.8 billion yuan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N1J303G 
    It also said last week it had scrapped plans to buy Nine 
Elms Square in London.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1L81JQ 
 
 (Reporting By Clare Jim and Umesh Desai; Editing by Anne Marie 
Roantree and Muralikumar Anantharaman) 
 ((annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters 
Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: DALIAN WANDA REPORT/