(Bloomberg) -- Warburg Pincus is seeking to redeem its investment in Dalian Wanda Group Co.’s shopping mall unit, which has been trying to raise fresh funds after several failed attempts to list in Hong Kong in recent years, according to people familiar with the situation.

Warburg Pincus invested 970 million yuan ($135 million) for a minority stake in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co. in 2021, when the company first filed for an initial public offering. With IPO efforts stalling, Zhuhai Wanda was then required to repay investors if it failed to list by the end of 2023. 

When that deadline came and there was still no listing, a new agreement was proposed where Wanda’s billionaire founder Wang Jianlin gave up control of the mall business and pre-IPO investors took a bigger stake — 60% combined. 

Warburg Pincus, however, has been trying to get refunded, the people said.  

In a March 16 letter to creditors seen by Bloomberg News, Wanda said some of its equity had been frozen because Warburg Pincus was wanting to be repaid under conditions that were better than originally agreed. 

Public records show that a court in Shanghai has frozen a total of about 5 billion yuan worth of equity in Zhuhai Wanda. 

A representative for Warburg Pincus declined to comment. Wanda didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Bloomberg reported last month that Zhuhai Wanda is trying to raise about 30 billion yuan in loans from banks and that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is considering buying a stake from existing holders. 

Other Zhuhai Wanda pre-IPO investors include private equity firm PAG, which put in $2.8 billion, Ant Group Co., Citic Securities Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.  

--With assistance from Emma Dong.

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