DALIAN Wanda Group, owned by tycoon Wang Jianlin, is offering HK$34.45 billion (US$4.4 billion) in cash to buy out Hong Kong-listed unit Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties.

Wanda Group will pay HK$52.80 for each Hong Kong-traded share of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co., the company said in a statement yesterday, compared with an earlier offer of at least HK$48.

The HK$52.80 per share offer represents a 44.5 percent premium to the unit’s closing price March 29, the day before the company first announced its intention to delist and a 5.6 percent premium to its last traded price.

The shares have been suspended since April 25, pending the buyout details.

The firm is planning to delist just 15 months after its stock market debut, unhappy with its share performance and preferring to place its bets on an upcoming Shanghai listing where it believes it will get better valuations.

Wang told China Central Television in May that the unit is “substantially undervalued” and must proceed with the privatization. The billionaire has been seeking investors to help purchase as much as 14.41 percent of the shopping-mall operator and relist it in Shanghai, according to a document sent to prospective backers.

Wanda’s proposed transaction would be the biggest going-private deal on the Hong Kong stock exchange, beating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s proposal in 2012 to take its Hong Kong-traded unit private for as much as HK$19.6 billion.

In its pitch to investors, Wanda Group cited an average valuation of 29 times estimated full-year earnings for mainland listings, based on four companies engaged in managing free trade zones and industrial parks. Wanda Commercial was trading at about 6.4 times before trading was halted in April.

Wanda may seek a backdoor listing on the Shanghai exchange if it does not get regulatory approval to launch a planned initial public offering there soon, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has said that Wanda Commercial’s transparency could weaken following the delisting as Hong Kong requires more financial disclosure and communication to investors than the mainland. (SD-Agencies)