UpdateVanke’s management prevails after year-long takeover tussle, as second and third largest shareholders offload shares
Analysts believe the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and Shenzhen government actively stepped in to help Vanke’s top team take back the initiative
China Vanke’s senior management and state-backed Shenzhen Metro Group are set to become the eventual winners of the year-long tussle for control of China’s second largest property developer.
The ending of the country’s highest-ever profile corporate battle has become much clearer after China Evergrande Group, Vanke’s third largest shareholder said in a statement on Friday it “has no intention to acquire further Vanke’s shares” and mainland news site Caixin reported Evergrande plans to transfer its shares to Shenzhen Metro.
That move came a day after Vanke’s second biggest investor, China Resources Holdings, revealed it has agreed to sell its entire shareholding in the Shenzhen developer to Shenzhen Metro.
Shenzhen Metro, which operates eight subway lines in the city, is directly controlled by the Shenzhen Government.
“And we expect Shenzhen Metro to keep increasing its stake in Vanke by buying stocks from other shareholders, including Baoneng (its current largest shareholder with 25.4 per cent), Evergrande (14.1 per cent) and Anbang (6.2 per cent), even at higher prices,” Credit Suisse analysts led by Alvin Wong wrote in a note on Friday.
“This should resolve the long-lasting shareholder issues,” they said.