An intensifying shareholder dispute at China Vanke has shaken investor confidence in the property developer, cut its access to bank lending and upended projects during the first half of the year, the group said.
China’s largest retail property developer, which reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to Rmb5.35bn ($803m) for the first six months of 2016, said for the first time it was in dialogue with shareholders in the hope of resolving China’s first big hostile takeover.
Baoneng, a little-known Shenzhen-based company, grabbed headlines in December when it took a 24 per cent stake in Vanke, overtaking China Resources to become the largest shareholder. The battle has since devolved into a public dispute in which Baoneng has demanded the removal of Vanke’s directors, while Vanke has struck back with its own ripostes.