China's Dalian Wanda Group has reportedly sold some stakes in its financial sector to China UnionPay, the country's bank card association, and increased the registration capital of its financial arm.
Wanda's move might be an aim to lower its liabilities or to prepare to publicly list its financial sector, according to a report by The Economic Observer on Tuesday, citing an insider who is unnamed.
The report didn't provide detailed information about how much stakes Wanda has sold.
Wanda's financial arm is named as Shanghai Wanda Network Finance Services Co, which has invested into 11 firms, the report said.
The firm saw its registration capital increase over recent months. In February, the firm increased its registration capital from 5 billion yuan ($747 million) to 9 billion yuan, according to the report. On July 20, the firm's registration capital again was increased to 9.3 billion yuan.
Wanda Group and China UnionPay signed a strategic cooperation deal in the first half of 2016. In March of 2017, the two companies announced plans to link offline shopping stores with online financial services in order to provide consumers with better experiences, according to media reports.
