(Yicai) Dec. 19 -- Sunac Group, which is dealing with its own liquidity issues, has become the latest company to raise arbitration against cash-strapped property giant Wanda Group, claiming CNY9.5 billion (USD1.3 billion) worth of share buyback fees that the Chinese developer says it is owed after an investment deal dating back to 2018 was breached, The Paper reported today.

The arbitration application has been accepted by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It follows similar suits filed by retailer Suning.com and supermarket chain operator Yonghui Supermarket in the last two months.

The fallout is the result of an investment deal for Wanda’s subsidiary Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group that went wrong. In January 2018, Tianjin-based Sunac, Suning.com, internet behemoth Tencent Holdings and JD.com pumped CNY34 billion (USD4.6 billion) into the property management unit in return for a 14 percent stake on the understanding that Beijing-based Wanda would soon take the subsidiary public.

Of this, both Suning and Sunac invested CNY9.5 billion for 3.9 percent equity each. And Yonghui injected CNY3.5 billion (USD480 million) in a separate investment in December that year.

All parties signed a valuation adjustment mechanism agreement at the time that Wanda Commercial would go public before Oct. 31, 2023 on an unspecified bourse, the report said. But this has yet to happen.

Editor: Kim Taylor