Is This Property Developer China Evergrande 2.0?

It was a fast and furious decline that puts even China Evergrande Group to shame. Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., the country’s biggest shopping mall operator, issued $800 million bonds earlier this year. It was the first junk-rated developer that managed to tap into the offshore market since a record wave of defaults in 2022. By the end of May, Wanda’s February issue was already hovering at around 40 cents to a dollar, and investors have not been paid a single coupon yet.

The alarm bells started ringing in late April when Wanda said a planned initial public offering in Hong Kong of its property management subsidiary would not be happening any time soon. China’s stock watchdog needed more time to work out detailed equity-raising policies for real estate developers, the company said. It was a sharp turnaround: In recent months, Wanda was giving investors the impression that the IPO of Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co. was imminent.