(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- International venture fund IDG Capital Management will sell all shares in well-known Chinese Beijing duck restaurant chain Quanjude Group over the next six months despite the share price being currently lower than IDG's original bidding price.

Quanjude received a notification from Boston-based IDG regarding the share reduction plan, according to a statement from the Beijing-based company.

IDG holds 17.4 million shares, accounting for 5.63 percent of general capital. The VC became a shareholder through participation in Quanjude's private placement in July 2014, acquiring 18.1 million shares or 5.87 percent of the total at an offering price of CNY13.8 (USD2.0). Stocks in the chain [SHE:002186] were trading down 4.5 percent at CNY11.9 as of 2.00 p.m. Beijing time today.

The plan is not the first time that IDG has sold shares in Quangjude. IDG once proposed selling all shares between February and August this year but ultimately only sold 733,100 shares at a price between CNY13.64 and CNY14.33, representing 0.24 percent of general capital.

Shares in Quanjude once reached a high of CNY33.87, with a periodic high of CNY24.68 recorded in March last year. However, the price moved lower and has fluctuated greatly since then, once hitting a historic low of CNY11.3 on Oct. 19 after IDG's initial announcement to sell shares.

As the first international VC fund to enter China, IDG's Chinese investments focus on the science and technology and internet sectors, with Tencent and Baidu bringing considerable returns for the company. However, the VC doesn't invest much in the catering sector, with Quanjude the only such player in its portfolio.

Quanjude's growth has been sluggish in recent years, with only single-digit net profit expansion booked in 2015 and 2016. It even decreased 2.6 percent last year. The company's operating revenue dropped 1.5 percent annually to CNY1.4 billion (USD196.4 million) in the first three quarters, while net profit dropped 3.8 percent to CNY129 million (USD18.6 million).

Quanjude earlier projects a net profit for the year between CNY116 million and CNY156 million, compared with CNY136 million last year.