China Resources (Holdings) Co will sell 1.69 billion of its A shares in Vanke to Shenzhen Metro Group Co. [Photo/VCG]

A major shareholder of China Vanke Co, the country's second-largest property developer, will sell its entire stake in the developer for 37.2 billion yuan ($5.4 billion).

China Resources (Holdings) Co will sell 1.69 billion of its A shares in Vanke to Shenzhen Metro Group Co, Vanke said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Vanke halted trading before market opened on Thursday in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, saying China Resources is making "major" plans regarding its stake in the developer.

China Resources, Vanke's second-largest shareholder, owned 15.3 percent of Vanke's total issued shares. The company won't hold any stake after the sale.

The deal offers a temporary relief for Vanke, which has been embroiled in a tug-of-war for control more than a year after Baoneng Group emerged as its largest shareholder. Vanke last month terminated a 45.6-billion-yuan restructuring plan that would have introduced Shenzhen Metro as its largest shareholder to displace Baoneng, whose advances Vanke labeled as "hostile".

Before the Vanke announcement, there were reports saying that Vanke, China Resources and the Shenzhen government had already signed an agreement in December regarding the change in the Vanke stakes.

The move by China Resources may have something to do with an asset-restructuring plan regarding its property unit. It has no reason to cut its shares in such a high-quality enterprise, unless it intends to get out of the property business, an unnamed property analyst was quoted by Caijing Magazine as saying.

The move has again put Vanke in the spotlight after year-and-a-half-long battle over control of the company came to a temporary end last month.

Baoneng holds 25.4 percent in Vanke while China Evergrande Group comes third at 14.07 percent.

The share prices of companies related to Evergrande rose significantly on Thursday on the news.

Stocks of Langfang Development Co Ltd gained 5.20 percent to finish at 23.69 yuan ($3.43), while China Calxon Group Co Ltd surged 6.21 percent to close at 7.70 yuan.

Zhou Mo in Shenzhen contributed to this story.