December 3, 2014

Dalian Wanda adds pig-farming to array of businesses

 

Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese retail conglomerate aiming for a listing in Hong Kong later this month, has added pig farming to an already expansive list of business units, which includes everything from Chinese property to movie popcorn in its chain of US cinemas.

On Tuesday, the company announced a CNY1 billion (US$162.5 million) investment in pork production in China's poorest province of Guizhou. In a statement, the company calls the project a charitable donation, although the pork will eventually be sold in the Dalian Wanda retail chain or partner stores.

The conglomerate is expected to launch a US$3 billion-US$4 billion initial public offering in the Hong Kong stock exchange later this month.

Wanda's billionaire founder Wang Jianlin is China's fourth-richest man, with a net worth of US$13.2 billion, according to Forbes. He is up-front about the source of much of his wealth –- cheap real estate sold by local governments anxious to attract developers.

His business trophy pieces are 100 Wanda Plaza shopping centres across China, along with department stores, tourism businesses and chain of cinemas in China, as well as AMC Entertainment, the US's second-largest movie theatre chain, which he bought in 2012 for US$2.6bn.

He also plans to invest CNY50 billion (US$8.1bn) to build an entertainment park in Qingdao, a coastal city in eastern China, that will include a movie museum and 20 studios. The park is scheduled for completion in 2017.