A Chinese developer said to have been involved in negotiations to buy Brookdale Senior Living last year reportedly has defaulted on more than $174 million in debts, according to Mingtiandi.
Zhonghong Holdings’ total debt is $364 million, according to the publication.
In October, Bloomberg had reported that negotiations by an affiliate of the company, Zhonghong Zhuoye Group Co. Ltd., to purchase Brookdale had ended without a deal. The Beijing-based company allegedly was prepared to pay $4 billion for the company’s stock.
Reuters had first reported Zhonghong Group’s supposed interest in Brookdale in June, citing “people familiar with the matter.” Reuters quoted a purchase price of approximately $3 billion.
In August, the Financial Times reported that talks related to the potential acquisition had stalled because Chinese regulatory officials were more carefully scrutinizing overseas investments and financial institutions were taking a more conservative approach to assessing credit risks.
“Four aggressive Chinese conglomerates — HNA, Fosun, Dalian Wanda and Anbang Insurance — have been at the heart of the crackdown on China’s overseas deal spree,” the media outlet reported at the time.
Hong Kong-based Fosun International Limited reported an 5.11% stake in Brookdale in a March filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That equaled more than 9.5 million shares of the common stock of the largest senior living operator in the United States.