Vanke seals deal with Blackstone, chips in $583 million

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Developer China Vanke Co Ltd <2202.HK> said on Thursday it and its partners have sealed a $1.9 billion deal with Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and third parties, with itself putting in 3.89 billion yuan ($583.02 million) to buy their property firms.

The deal was first made public last Tuesday, when Vanke disclosed it was in talks after its second-biggest shareholder, China Resources, criticized the Vanke board's approval of a white knight deal with Shenzhen Metro as being invalid because one Vanke director had abstained from voting.

In a filing to the stock exchange, Vanke <000002.SZ>, China's largest property developer, said it and its partners would acquire a 96.55 percent interest in property firms held by Blackstone and third parties. The financing of the deal would not involve any new share issue, it added.

Vanke did not identify its partners, the commercial property firms or the third parties that own the stakes with Blackstone.

Vanke is mired in a high-profile corporate power struggle.

Fearing a hostile takeover bid by its biggest shareholder, financial conglomerate Baoneng, Vanke's management announced a $6.9 billion deal with Shenzhen Metro Group last month, which would dilute the holdings of Baoneng and China Resources.

The Vanke director who abstained from voting, Zhang Liping, is employed by Blackstone and abstained from voting on the Shenzhen Metro deal as he thought an approval might affect talks with Blackstone, Vanke has said.

Early this week, Vanke asked regulators to investigate the funding of share purchases by Baoneng, accusing it of using illegal financing channels.

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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