Why China’s Wanda Group Dumped Its Theme Parks Business

Debt and Disney took their toll on a would-be wolf pack

Wanda Group
Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin

Last year, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin — China’s richest man — said he was going to take on the “tiger” of Shanghai Disneyland Park with his own “pack of wolves.” But even a wolf pack couldn’t claw its way out of a mountain of debt, making Wanda’s wannabe Disney killers the latest sacrifices to China’s regulatory crackdown.

Early Monday morning, a little more than a year after Shanghai Disneyland Park opened to the public, Wanda announced that fellow Chinese conglomerate Sunac China Holdings had agreed to buy a majority stake in Wanda’s competing theme park business, as well as 76 hotels, for $9.3

Want to keep reading?

Create a free account, or log in with your email below.

 

Gain access to unlimited free articles, news alerts, select newsletters, podcasts and more.

 

Comments