China Renaissance shares plunge after investment bank says chairman unreachable

SYDNEY  -China Renaissance Holdings Ltd saw its shares plummet by as much as 50 percent on Friday after the boutique investment bank said it is unable to contact chairman and chief executive Bao Fan.

Bao’s disappearance becomes the latest in a series of cases of high-profile Chinese executives going missing with little explanation – especially during a sweeping anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by President Xi Jinping.

In 2015 alone, at least five executives became unreachable without prior notice to their companies, including Fosun Group chairman Guo Guangchang, who Fosun later said was assisting with investigations regarding a personal matter.

“The board is not aware of any information that indicates that Mr. Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and or operations of the Group which is continuing normally,” the mainland China-based bank said in a late-Thursday filing.

China Renaissance stock slid by 50 percent in early trade to hit a record low of HK$5, wiping off HK$2.8 billion in market value. It regained some ground to be off by 28 percent. So far on Friday, 19.04 million China Renaissance shares have changed hands, the highest on record.

A China Renaissance spokesman referred Reuters’ request for comment on Friday to the investment bank’s public filing.

Bao, a well-known dealmaker, is China Renaissance’s founder and controlling shareholder, having previously worked at Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley.

He has been described as one of China’s best-connected bankers and has worked on major technology mergers including the tie-up of ride-hailing champions Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping and travel devices platforms Ctrip and Qunar.

Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 and listed it in Hong Kong in 2018 after raising $346 million. It has acted as adviser for some of China’s biggest tech initial public offerings (IPOs) including those of JD.Com Inc and Kuaishou Technology as well as Didi’s New York listing in 2021.

China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector. In 2019, it raised more than 6.5 billion yuan ($945 million) in a yuan-denominated fund.

Bao’s disappearance comes days after property developer Seazen Group Ltd said it was unable to contact or reach its vice-chairman.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma’s long absence from public view after authorities called off the IPO of his Ant Group Co Ltd led to speculation over his whereabouts. Alibaba has never reported Ma unreachable and media outlets have reported him travelling in Europe, Japan and Hong Kong.