Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading

Blackstone scraps $3bn takeover of property giant Soho China

Private equity giant Blackstone had hoped to expand its presence in the country through acquisition of Soho China, which holds prime real estate in cities like Beijing. ©AFP

Beijing (AFP) - A US private equity firm has abandoned a planned $3 billion purchase of Chinese property developer Soho China, with antitrust authorities yet to approve the deal.

Blackstone had hoped to expand its presence in the country through acquisition of Soho China, which holds prime real estate in cities like Beijing.

But its offer had been conditional upon clearance from China's competition authorities, and the parties concluded that the pre-conditions would not be satisfied within a designated time frame, according to a filing to the Hong Kong exchange dated Friday.

Both sides have now "agreed that the offer should not be made," the filing added.

Blackstone's offer in June, at HK$5 per share, was over 30 percent above Soho China's closing price at the time -- and valued the property group at HK$26 billion ($3.3 billion).

A June filing said Blackstone owned "approximately 6 million square meters of properties in China".

The latest joint statement did not elaborate further on why the deal fell through.

But it comes as Beijing steps up a broad crackdown on monopolistic behaviour and deals that has spooked China's once unassailable tech giants, with regulators taking aim at industries from e-commerce to education.

The real estate sector has also been hit in recent weeks, with a crackdown making it harder to raise cash and embattled firms like real estate giant Evergrande struggling to service debts.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.