Hong-Kong
CNN
—
China Renaissance, a top dealmaker in the country’s tech industry, said it would suspend trading in its shares and delay the release of its full-year results because it still cannot get in touch with its founder.
Bao Fan, 52, started the boutique investment bank in 2005 and has been unavailable since mid-2005 February, according to the company. Shares in China Renaissance have plummeted since Bao went missing, as much as 50% at one point.
China Renaissance said in late February it had learned Bao was “cooperating with an investigation” being conducted by certain authorities in the country. It gave no other details.
Chinese media has reported that Bao may be assisting an investigation into a former director of China Renaissance.
In a document on Sunday, China Renaissance said auditors could not complete their work or sign their report due to Bao’s absence. The board was also unable to provide an estimate of when it might approve its audited results for 2022 or send its annual report by the April 30 deadline, as required by Hong Kong’s listing rules.
Trading in the company’s shares was therefore halted from Monday.
Bao is known as a seasoned dealmaker which works closely with top technology companies in China. He helped broker the 2015 merger between two of the country’s largest food delivery services, Meituan and Dianping. Today, the combined company’s “super app” platform is ubiquitous in China.
His team has also invested in US-listed Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio (NIO) and Li Auto and helped Chinese internet giants Baidu (BIDU) and JD.com (JD) complete their secondary listings in Hong Kong.
Over the weekend, China’s top anti-graft watchdog launched an investigation into Liu Liange, former party secretary and chairman of Bank of China, according to a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission. The bank is state-owned and one of the four largest lenders in the country.
Liu is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the statement said. He is one of the top finance executives targeted by President Xi Jinping’s broader financial crackdown.
In January, Wang Bin, former party leader and chairman of China Life Insurance, was indicted by prosecutors at the national level for taking bribes and concealing foreign savings.
– Michelle Toh contributed reporting.