Chinese developer Sunac spends $530 mln to team with Greentown

HONG KONG, June 22 (Reuters) - Sunac China Holdings said on Friday that it plans to pay 3.37 billion yuan ($529.52 million) in cash to buy stakes in property projects from debt-heavy luxury home builder Greentown China.

Sunac said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it was spending the money to take a 50 percent interest in a joint venture with Greentown.

The joint venture is buying nine projects previously held entirely by Greentown, in the cities of Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Tianjin, including high-rise apartments, low-rise villas and a stake in a villa golf-course development.

Trading in the shares of both Greentown and Sunac was suspended in Hong Kong on Friday. Sunac has requested for trading to resume at 9 a.m. on Monday.

The move comes two weeks after Greentown, based in the city of Hangzhou, said it planned to raise HK$5.1 billion ($657 million) by selling stock and convertible bonds to Hong Kong-based conglomerate Wharf Holdings. (Reporting by Alex Frew McMillan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)