Complicating matters, China Evergrande Group, the country's biggest homebuilder, quickly built up a stake of 14.07 percent in the latter half of last year but has since said it is not interested in seeking control of its rival. Vanke's shares in Hong Kong lost as much as 30 percent in the first half of last year, hit by uncertainty over the power struggle and share dilution that would have occurred under the deal with Shenzhen Metro. But they recovered most of that ground in the second half when Evergrande quickly built up its stake.