Wharf Holdings to Sell Entire Sino-Ocean Stake for $284 Million

Wharf Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based real- estate developer, said it has agreed to sell its entire stake in Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Ltd. for HK$2.2 billion ($284 million) to an undisclosed buyer, three days after Anbang Insurance Group Co. purchased about a fifth of the Chinese builder’s shares.

Wharf will sell 445 million shares, or 5.93 percent of Sino-Ocean Land’s stake, for HK$5 [US$0.645] each, the company said in a statement on its website on Thursday. It expects to complete the transaction next week.

Sino-Ocean Land shares jumped as much as 16 percent in Hong Kong Monday as insurer Anbang bought 20.5 percent stake of Sino- Ocean Land with HK$7.8 billion ($1 billion) from members of Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd to become its second-largest shareholder.

After the Monday transaction, Sino-Ocean Land’s biggest shareholder remained to be China Life Insurance Co., which holds a 29.27 percent stake as of June 30, according to the developer’s first-half report released Sept. 15.

Vivien Chen — daughter of Nan Fung’s founder Chen Din Hwa — had held a 21.3 percent of Sino-Ocean partly through Nan Fung, according to a Monday filing.

Block trades of 651 million shares combined, or 8.7 percent of the developer’s total shares outstanding, crossed 9:00-9:05 a.m. in Hong Kong prior to the morning trading hour. The trades, at HK$5 per share, reached a total value of HK$3.3 billion [US$426 million].

Sino-Ocean Land rose 1.82 percent to HK$5.03 on Thursday after reaching a four-month high on Monday.

–With assistance from Ye Xie and Lee Spears.