Dalian Wanda scion settles with creditors

Hong Kong

WANG Sicong, the only son of the founder and chairman of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, has reached an agreement with creditors after local courts declared him a debtor and placed curbs on his flamboyant lifestyle.

The 31-year-old will compensate dozens of investors in his now bankrupt entertainment firm and will shoulder a loss of almost two billion yuan (S$387 million), according to a statement on the website of his investment firm, Prometheus Capital. It did not provide details.

Mr Wang has been battling the fallout of the collapse this year of Shanghai Panda Entertainment Culture, which he founded in 2015 as a streaming platform and later diversified into event planning and animation.

The failure prompted a court in Beijing in November to list the tycoon as a debtor, while Wanda Group - run by his father and billionaire Wang Jianlin - distanced itself from the scion's woes.

"The single failure of starting up Panda Entertainment cannot be taken as the failure of Prometheus Capital and its owner," the investment firm said in the statement issued on Thurs-day.

As of Friday, Mr Wang was no longer listed as a debtor on an official website run by China's top court.

The younger Mr Wang has dabbled in businesses, including investments in

eSports and Internet start-ups, and ran Prometheus Capital, founded in 2012 as a family fund of the two Wangs.

He shot to fame in 2015 for splurging on two gold Apple Watches - retailing for as much as US$17,000 each at the time - for his dog.

Following his debtor status, a court this year barred him from making unnecessary purchases such as property and travelling first class on flights.

The elder Mr Wang, who has a net worth of about US$17 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said in a speech in 2016 that his son did not seem interested in succeeding him at the helm of his empire. He said he thought it was better to hand Wanda over to professional managers with guidance from the board.

Following an acquisition spree earlier this decade, Wanda has offloaded assets including European soccer clubs and a property in Beverly Hills to focus on building leisure and commercial facilities in its home country. BLOOMBERG