Baoneng unit pledges 8.39 per cent of Vanke shares

China Vanke said in an announcement late on Wednesday that a unit of its largest shareholder had pledged all of its Vanke A-shares, or 8.39 per cent of Vanke’s total share capital.

The property developer, deeply embroiled in a corporate ownership battle, said it had been informed by Jushenghua, a unit of Baoneng Group, that it pledged 37.36 million Vanke A-shares on Tuesday to Galaxy Securities.

Jushenghua holds 926 million Vanke shares as of Tuesday, all of which are pledged, according to the announcement.

Vanke has been in a public spat with Baoneng, whose increase in Vanke stake since late last year to overtake China Resources as the largest shareholder, has been viewed as a hostile takeover by Vanke chairman Wang Shi.

The announcement comes after a Vanke director, Hua Sheng, on Wednesday claimed that Baoneng had pledged shares of Jushenghua to China Resources last year in order to buy Vanke stocks, which suggested they were acting together in breach of disclosure rules.

Baoneng units own 25 per cent of Vanke as of last week and China Resources 15.3 per cent as of June 27, according to filings.