Baoneng Group faces the forced liquidation of its investment in China Vanke unless it can meet impending margin calls on its borrowing — in a demonstration of the risk of using leverage to build a stake for a hostile bid.
In recent weeks, Baoneng’s fight for control of Vanke, China’s largest residential developer, has fascinated the country’s financial community. Vanke chairman Wang Shi had previously branded the private owners of Baoneng “barbarians”, warning that a takeover by them would wreck Vanke’s corporate culture.
Yesterday, Vanke sent a letter to regulators alleging a wide range of violations related to Baoneng’s use of structured debt vehicles to finance its stakebuilding in its target.