Blackstone’s Soho China Investment Discussions Have Stalled

(Bloomberg) --

Blackstone Group Inc.'s talks about a potential investment in Chinese property developer Soho China Ltd. have stalled, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The private equity firm's discussions are no longer progressing after the coronavirus outbreak made it difficult to assess the developer's business outlook, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Recent turmoil in the debt market introduced concerns about arranging financing for a deal, the people said.

Blackstone's discussions around an investment in Soho China were at an early stage, and could resume once conditions have stabilized, said the people.

Shares of Soho China plunged as much as 28.4% on Monday, the biggest decline on record, following the Bloomberg News report.

A representative for Blackstone declined to comment. Soho China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Beijing-based developer said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on March 11 that it was exploring the possibility of a strategic partnership with overseas financial investors which may lead to a general offer of its issued share capital. Soho China didn't identify the investors in the statement. An earlier report from Reuters said Blackstone was in talks to privatize Soho China, citing unidentified people.

Soho China was founded by chairman Pan Shiyi and CEO Zhang Xin in 1995. The company holds 1.4 million square meters of prime office space in Beijing and Shanghai, according to its website.

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