The sale of the stake in Beijing Wanda Investment will lead to a change of Wanda Film's ownership, Wanda Film said on Wednesday.

Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management, controlled by Ke Liming, chairman of the movie production and online streaming company Ruyi, is set to buy the combined 51% stake from sellers including Wang Jianlin, who was once China's richest man and is Dalian Wanda's chairman.

The two other sellers are Dalian Wanda's unit Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group, and a unit of the cultural business, Wanda Film said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Wanda Film did not specify the price for the stake sale, or how the sellers would use the proceeds.

The deal came as investors closely watch how major Chinese property developers optimise assets amid concerns over their financial health in a weak Chinese property market. A string of Chinese developers has defaulted in the last two years.

Dalian Wanda Group is a major commercial property developer in China, managing many shopping malls, offices and hotels.

Wanda Film, whose share trading was halted on Wednesday, has a market valuation of 27 billion yuan ($3.77 billion), according to LSEG data.

Ke holds a 99% stake in Shanghai Ruyi Investment Management, according to the Shanghai-based firm's 2022 annual report filed to China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

The deal came after a separate firm controlled by China Ruyi agreed in July to buy a 49% stake in Beijing Wanda Investment for 2.26 billion yuan from Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group.

In the July deal, Shanghai Ruyi Television Production agreed to pay 200 million yuan in cash to Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group shortly after the date of agreement, and to provide the seller with a 800 million yuan interest-free loan.

Proceeds from the July deal would be used to help Dalian Wanda Commercial Management, a unit of Dalian Wanda, make bond repayment, a source has had told Reuters.

($1 = 7.1584 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Roxanne Liu, Ella Cao and Kane Wu; Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Coates)