Two Chinese companies which had taken minority investment positions in Legendary Entertainment following Dalian Wanda’s

Two Chinese companies that had taken minority investment positions in Legendary Entertainment following Dalian Wanda’s acquisition of the Hollywood player have now sold their stakes.

Bloomberg reported that real estate, infrastructure and investment group Oceanwide Holdings and film and TV producer Zhejiang Huace unloaded their shares, worth a combined $236 million. They had bought their stakes in a $1.5 billion March 2016 funding round conducted by Wanda shortly after it completed its takeover of Legendary. At the time of the refinancing, Wanda offered investors a choice of exits: an IPO for the company within 12 months, or a repurchase by Wanda with a 15% return.

Much has happened in the intervening 18 months to change investor sentiment toward both Wanda and Legendary.

Wanda has been hit by a series of Chinese government moves to control its overseas acquisition spree. Authorities first imposed capital controls that squashed several deals by Chinese groups, including Wanda’s attempt to buy Dick Clark Productions for $1 billion. More recently, regulators have crimped Chinese bank lending to Wanda and its overseas subsidiaries, including Legendary. That was followed last month by a Cabinet-level directive to halt overseas deal-making in film, sports and hotels – all key growth areas for Wanda.

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