BEIJING—Dalian Wanda Group said Monday that its Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. had agreed to sell 76 hotels and a 91% stake in 13 theme parks to Sunac China Holdings Ltd. for RMB 63.2 billion, or approximately US$9.3 billion. The equity transfer represents a pullback in the tourism sector for Wanda, although the Beijing-based conglomerate will continue to operate the properties.

Reuters reported Monday that as recently as last year, Wanda Group planned to build 20 theme parks around China, thus besting its rival Walt Disney Co. “This [deal] signifies a retreat from Wanda's previous strategy in cultural tourism, and marks a pivot to an asset-light strategy,” Qin Gang, senior researcher at State Information Center, told Reuters.

Tianjin-based Sunac will pay RMB 29.6 billion, or approximately US$4.4 billion, for its majority ownership of the 13 Wanda Cultural Tourism City projects, and will also assume debt on the properties. Through the sale of the theme parks and hotels, “Wanda Commercial's debt-to-asset ratio will drop dramatically,” Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin told the Chinese business weekly Caixin. “All the cash will go to repaying loans.”