Blackstone drops $4 billion New World deal, Bloomberg News reports

May 13 (Reuters) - Blackstone has ‌walked away ​from ​a proposed $4 billion tie-up with Hong Kong's New World Development after the indebted property developer ‌refused to cede control, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, ⁠citing people familiar with the matter.

Blackstone declined to comment. New World ‌did not immediately respond ‌to a Reuters request for comment.

New World, the most heavily indebted developer among its peers, has been seeking ​to refinance debt and bolster liquidity as Hong Kong's property sector remains under pressure from tight credit conditions ⁠and a weak office market.

The Cheng family has been in talks with a ​handful of financial institutions to sell an equity stake in New World, and Blackstone was ​the most advanced party in the ‌process, Reuters reported in March.

Any investor would have to align their interests with the ⁠family and a change of control would be unlikely, they said at the time.

The Cheng family, one of Hong Kong's wealthiest ⁠dynasties, controls 45.24% of New World through its private conglomerate, Chow ​Tai Fook Enterprises, according to LSEG data.

New World has been in negotiations with investors to sell assets, including the K11 Art Mall ‌in Kowloon, but has yet to secure a buyer.

Shares of the company, which has a ‌market value of about $3 billion, are up about 29% ⁠so far this year. They ‌closed down 1.37% ​on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Anusha Shah in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark ‌Potter)

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