Fosun International (0656)

[CityFarmer]

I started a new thread for the company. The battle seems not related to the company. It might be the private investment of the company founder, Mr. Guo.

Fosun set to raise offer in Club Med bid battle: source

PARIS - Chinese conglomerate Fosun , controlled by billionaire Guo Guangchang, is set to raise its bid for holiday company Club Mediterranee on Monday to trump Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi, a source familiar with the process said.

Bonomi's latest offer in the long-running battle stands at 23 euros per share and values the French company at 874 million euros ($1.1 billion). Fosun had previously offered 22 euros a share in a takeover leapfrog saga that dates back to an offer from Fosun in May 2013.

Monday is the last day Guo, China's richest man, can come back with a higher offer, according to rules set by the French regulator AMF.

Both Guo and Bonomi see turnaround potential in a business that has been hit by the weak economy in its core market of Europe, and by a stalled attempt to move upmarket. Both also hope to develop the brand in faster-growing China.

Guo said earlier this month he was joining forces with Brazilian investor Nelson Tanure to outbid Bonomi.

The source said Tanure would be involved in Monday's proposal but would not put a figure on the new offer or give further details.

Guo's Gaillon Invest takeover vehicle is controlled by his Fosun group and it also includes French private equity partner Ardian, the management of Club Med, and Chinese travel agency U-Tour.

The Bonomi camp owns 18.9 percent of Club Med, which pioneered the all-inclusive holiday concept in the 1950s and 60s, but fell on hard times in recent years. Fosun's stake is 18.3 percent.

Club Med shares have been trading above Bonomi's offer on hopes Fosun would make a higher bid. They are up more than 70 percent since the bid saga began.

Club Med said in its latest results statement that weaker demand in Europe, unrest in the Middle East and Ebola fears in Africa hit bookings and helped push it to an annual loss.

($1 = 0.8019 euros) REUTERS
http://www.todayonline.com/business/fosu...tle-source

[opmi]

China warreb buffett?

[CityFarmer]

Chairman or CEO missing, is a common scene for China companies nowadays? The company share price is halted.

(not vested)

Fosun bonds fall, stock halted after report chairman Guo missing
11 Dec 2015 10:36
[BEIJING] Fosun International bonds plunged by a record and the company suspended its shares in Hong Kong after Caixin magazine reported that billionaire Chairman Guo Guangchang had gone missing.

Closely held Fosun Group, which controls Fosun International, has "lost contact" with Mr Guo, 48, the magazine said, citing people it didn't identify.

The shares declined for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday in Hong Kong, losing 1 percent to close at HK$13.34, and tumbled more than 11 per cent to US$1.55 in over-the-counter trading in New York. Fosun International dollar bonds fell by a record, with the US$400 million of 6.875 per cent bonds due in 2020 slumping 16.1 US cents to 88.3 US cents on the dollar as of 9:10 am in Hong Kong.

"The news that the chairman went missing will take a toll on the bond prices and until the company can clarify the situations, and we'd expect further weakness in the near term," Nuj Chiaranussati, a Singapore-based debt analyst at Gimme Credit LLC.
...
BLOOMBERG

Source: Business Times Breaking News

[weijian]

Lost and FOUND.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...e-ii1u49ab

Ever since the Cultural Revolution, has times been so dangerous for The Rich in China.

[fundamentalman]

Lost and FOUND.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...e-ii1u49ab

Ever since the Cultural Revolution, has times been so dangerous for The Rich in China.

not just china, but russia too. i guess your wealth is safe as long as you don't cross any big govt official.

[fundamentalman]

China Disappearances Highlight Ruling Party Detention System
Bloomberg News
December 11, 2015 — 12:17 AM PST Updated on December 11, 2015 — 8:16 AM PST
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Fosun's Chairman Is 'Unreachable': Caixin


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The baffling disappearance of Chinese executives in recent weeks has drawn attention to the ruling Communist Party’s practice of holding people incommunicado either as targets of investigations themselves or to help with probes of others.
The most recent example came last night, when Caixin magazine reported that Guo Guangchang, the billionaire chairman of Fosun International Ltd. couldn’t be contacted. Fosun suspended its shares today and its bonds plunged by a record before the company said Guo was assisting justice authorities with a probe. Other high profile cases in recent weeks included two members of Citic Securities’ executive committee who became unreachable earlier this month, along with Yim Fung, the chief executive officer of Guotai Junan Securities Co.
The Chinese word for unreachable -- shilian, which means “lost contact” -- has become a euphemism in China for the party holding executives and officials for questioning or arrest, often indefinitely and at an undisclosed location. That practice has long been criticized by human rights activists who say the lack of transparency and accountability opens the door to abuses such as torture.
Corruption Campaign
The detentions, known as “shuanggui” if the party detains one of its members and “shuangzhi” if a non-party member is held as part of a probe, has featured prominently in President Xi Jinping’s campaign to root out corruption that he says is now rife in the ranks of the party’s more than 87 million members. People can be detained even if they are not the target of a probe themselves.
Sohu.com reported today that Guo was helping with a corruption investigation into former Shanghai vice mayor Ai Baojun. Fosun didn’t specify the subject of the probe, other than to say Guo will be able to participate in the company’s decisions on “substantial issues.”
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the agency leading the anti-corruption campaign, didn’t respond to a fax seeking comment.
The main problem with the practice is that it isn’t transparent, said Zhu Lijia, a professor of public policy at the Chinese Academy of Governance. “Nobody really knows what happens inside the room, and that’s dangerous without regulations,” Zhu said.
Forced Confessions
Some officials who were later convicted in courts of law have spoken out about their experience in party detention. Bo Xilai, a senior party official who is serving life behind bars for bribery, said during his trial that he was forced to make confessions during interrogations. Liu Han, who was executed this year for crimes including murder, said in court last year that he’d been tortured and beaten by investigators to force him to confess.
In 2013, a Chinese court sentenced five investigators with the party’s anti-corruption watchdog, the CCDI, to prison terms over the death of a company executive who died in their custody. An official with the Zhejiang prosecutor’s office was also sentenced.
Sometimes, the people detained are quietly released without charges. Lei Jie, the former chairman of Founder Securities Co. and its joint venture with Credit Suisse Group AG, was released a few months ago from police custody after going missing in January, a person with knowledge of the matter said in November. Jie’s release came after he assisted with a government probe, said the person, who asked not to be identified because there was no formal announcement of the move.
‘Short Vacation’
Li Yifei, chairwoman of hedge fund Man Group’s China unit, was taken into custody to help with an investigation into market volatility, a person familiar with the matter said in August. Li later told Bloomberg she was back from a “series of meetings” and a short vacation, denying the report she had assisted a police probe into market volatility.
Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has increasingly focused on the finance industry and related companies in an expanding government crackdown following a $5 trillion summer stock market rout. Senior officials at some of the country’s top brokerages have been investigated for alleged insider trading and stock manipulation as China intensifies probes into strategies authorities suspect may have exacerbated the selloff that started in June. 
“It could take a while for the inspectors to inform the company or the family members if a person is under party’s custody, and normally during that period the company can only say the person is not reachable,” said Zhu Lijia, a professor of public policy at the Chinese Academy of Governance. “That’s because the disciplinary apparatus fears if they inform others, the company or family members would destroy evidence, or transfer illicit assets.”
Fosun International’s business operations “remain normal,” spokesperson Chen Bo said today in a text message. Its shares will reopen on Dec. 14, the company said late tonight.

[CityFarmer]

The fear, is on both government officers, and private CEOs...

Fosun disappearance stokes fear among China CEOs

BEIJING (Dec 17): The disappearance of Fosun chief Guo Guangchang, dubbed China's Warren Buffett, has stoked fear among captains of industry who thought good behaviour and loyalty could protect them from Beijing's ever-expanding anti-graft campaign.

Guo, the billionaire chairman of Fosun International which is one of China's biggest private conglomerates, disappeared from public view a week ago amid reports he had been detained by police in Shanghai.

As the company's stock tumbled around 10 per cent, Guo briefly resurfaced on Monday, offering a cryptic reassurance to anxious investors that "there will be a better Fosun next year".

The firm said the 48-year-old executive - known as a loyal advocate of the ruling Communist Party - was "assisting in certain investigations" by Chinese authorities, but since then he has dropped out of sight again.

Neither Fosun nor China's authorities will discuss his whereabouts.
...
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/sg/article...china-ceos

[CityFarmer]

The media is over-speculating on the disappearance...

Top China exec spotted in New York after disappearance: media
18 Dec 2015 15:17
[BEIJING] The billionaire boss of one of China's largest private companies, who was last week rumoured to be being detained by authorities, has turned up in New York, media said Friday.

The four-day disappearance of Guo Guangchang, known as China's Warren Buffett, sparked rumours that the head of Fosun had been caught in a crackdown on the financial sector.

He reappeared briefly at a corporate meeting Monday, after nervous investors drove the group's primary traded stock down by almost ten percent, but had not been seen in public since.

But now, Mr Guo has been spotted eating dinner in Manhattan, respected business magazine Caijing said, citing a photo that appeared in Chinese social media.

"He appeared to be in good spirits," according to the accompanying post, which added that the picture was evidence that Mr Guo had been "merely helping an investigation".
...
AFP

Source: Business Times Breaking News

[cyclone]

Fosun's Lost Its Head, But Not Its Way

by Nisha Gopalan
March 29, 2017 4:00 PM EDT

As compatriot HNA Group Co. spends like there's no tomorrow, Fosun International Ltd., the first of China's big conglomerates to embark on an overseas buying spree, is selling assets and turning inward. That's a smart move.

The company, whose businesses range from insurance to tourism, reported a 28 percent rise in 2016 net income Tuesday to a record 10.3 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), largely on the back of cost cuts and gains from investments at home, including the sale of some shares in Shanghai-listed firms. Perhaps more importantly, Fosun, whose CEO Liang Xinjun is leaving for health reasons, has trimmed a debt load that's been aggravated by acquisitions including resort operator Club Med, Canada's Cirque du Soleil and Portugal's largest insurer.

According to China International Capital Corp., Fosun had reduced its net gearing ratio to 60 percent at the end of last year from 72 percent in June. It also managed to cut its cost of funds by 50 basis points to 4.5 percent in 2016, CICC analysts said.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/article...ot-its-way

[cyclone]

Fosun adds another luxury brand to crown as it takes control of French fashion house Lanvin
The 129-year-old fashion label has been struggling since the departure of its star designer Alber Elbaz in 2015

By Jane Li
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 22 February, 2018, 8:53pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 22 February, 2018, 11:36pm

Fosun International announced on Thursday that it had acquired a controlling stake in the 129-year-old French fashion house Lanvin, joining other Chinese companies that have recently bought top brands to capitalise on the demand for luxury products from wealthy mainlanders.

Fosun did not disclose financial details of the deal, but said Lanvin’s current shareholders would retain a minority stake.

“Fosun’s understanding of the brand and strong track record in the European and global market, including their successful partnership and transformational strategies with Club Med, Tom Tailor and many others, make us believe that Fosun is the right long-term strategic partner to team up with,” said Nicolas Druz, chief executive of Lanvin.

More details in http://www.scmp.com/business/china-busin...es-control