China Vanke’s 45.6 billion yuan share sale plan faces objection from China Resources

China Vanke chairman Wang Shi’s bid to retain management control of the company he founded remains into doubt after its second-largest shareholder China Resources (Holdings) said it strongly opposed a deal designed to ward off an unwanted takeover through the issuance of new shares.

In a statement posted in its official WeChat account on Saturday, China Resources said a vote by Vanke’s board failed to attract a two-thirds majority, or approval of eight of the 11 board members.

Vanke’s board endorsed the proposal in a 7-to-3 vote after one director chose to abstain, China Vanke said in statement.

Vanke, the mainland’s biggest home builder, said on Friday evening said it would acquire a unit of Shenzhen Metro for 45.6 billion yuan (HK$53.9 billion) via a new share issue, making the state-owned subway operator its largest shareholder.

The acquisition and share-sale proposal was intended to allow Vanke’s management to fend off a hostile takeover by major shareholder, Baoneng Group.

But China Resources said it opposed Vanke’s proposal to make the acquisition through a share sale, rather than other financing methods, citing Vanke’s low gearing ratio of 25 per cent as a reason. All three directors representing China Resources voted against the deal on Friday.

Mainland media reported on Saturday that China Resources has obtained approval from State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to buy more Vanke shares from Baoneng in a move to regain its status as the largest shareholder of Vanke. China Resources now owns about 15.2 per cent of shares in Vanke.

Vanke told mainland media The Paper that speculation it would buy more shares from Baoneng as “not true and groundless”.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday, Vanke said the board has approved the resolution to acquire assets held by Shenzhen Metro’s wholly owned SZMC Qianhai International Development via the issue of shares.