Fosun International cashing out subsidiaries in Mainland China

In its latest move to cash out of its business, Fosun International Limited, China’s largest privately-owned corporation controlled by Shanghai billionaire Guo Guangchang, announced in a disclosure with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it is disposing of several of its indirectly-owned subsidiaries for a total consideration of RMB24.16 billion (US$3.52 billion/MOP28.29 billion).
Fosun, which owns a 24-per cent stake in Banco Comercial Português (BCP), which has a branch in Macau, is selling a total of 17 firms, primarily engaged in industrial investment, investment management, and real estate development, to Yuyuan – a retailer, catering and tourism group listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Fosun holds a 26.45-per cent stake in Yuyuan through Fosun Industrial and Fosun High Technology.
The company further noted in the filing that all the target companies, apart from two incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, are established in Mainland China.
The presence in Macau of BCP, the largest private bank in Portugal, harks back to 1993, although the local branch only expanded its activities in 2010, through the attribution of an onshore full banking licence.
In 2005, BCP sold Banco Comercial de Macau (BCM) and Companhia de Seguros de Macau to Dah Sing Bank, a subsidiary of Dah Sing Banking Group, a Hong Kong-based financial group.
Fosun, which is considered to be one of China’s most aggressively acquisitive conglomerates, disclosed in November 2016 the selling of its casualty insurance unit Ironshore to U.S.-based Liberty Mutual Group for nearly US$3 billion, in an effort to lower debts, South China Morning Post reported.
Last March, Fosun’s CEO and vice president stepped down, raising further concerns about the group’s strategy.