China Vanke Co (萬科) chairman Wang Shi’s (王石) bid to fend off a takeover has been thrown into doubt after the property developer’s second-largest shareholder, China Resources (Holdings) Co (華潤集團), said the proposal failed to get enough votes from the board.
Vanke’s 45.6 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) plan to buy assets from Shenzhen Metro Group (深圳地鐵集團) by issuing new shares did not pass the board, because it needs approval from two-thirds, or eight, of the 11 members, China Resources said on Saturday in a statement.
Shenzhen-based Vanke on Friday said its board voted seven-to-three in favor of the plan after one director chose to abstain, citing a conflict of interest.
The opposition from a long-term major shareholder adds uncertainty to Wang’s effort to counter little-known Baoneng Group (寶能集團), which overtook China Resources as the company’s largest shareholder last year in what Vanke management labeled a “hostile takeover.”
If the proposal goes ahead, Baoneng’s shareholding in China’s largest listed property developer would be diluted to 19.27 percent, while Shenzhen Metro would own 20.65 percent, according to Friday’s exchange filing.
“If Vanke doesn’t reconsider the problems in the restructuring proposal and submits the same plan for a vote at board or shareholder meetings in future, China Resources would continue to vote against it to protect the interests of all shareholders,” the state-owned conglomerate said in the statement.
Vanke has a low debt burden and can use either cash or debt to finance the deal and does not need to sell new shares, said China Resources, which owns 15.24 percent of Vanke.
The proposed price of 15.88 yuan per A-share implies a discount of 24 percent to Vanke’s net assets and the land being bought, which would not contribute profit for the next two to three years, would dilute earnings, it said.
China Resources said the proposal does not give Vanke ownership in Shenzhen Metro itself and would not secure cooperation opportunities in other projects with the subway builder.
The land price also does not include taxes, which would significantly push up eventual costs for Vanke, it said.
Vanke defended the proposal in a separate statement, saying it expected the deal to bring “continuous quality project resources” in key Chinese cities at “reasonable” prices and that becoming a major Vanke shareholder, was the only consideration Shenzhen Metro would accept.
The two projects being acquired were the “best two land sites in Shenzhen [China]” — a city where developers are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain land — and would become an important source of profit for Vanke, board secretary Zhu Xu (朱旭) said in the statement.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS