Shares of Hong Kong-based investment bank Reorient Group Ltd (瑞東集團) jumped a record 152 percent after a private equity fund backed by e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma (馬雲) agreed to invest in the company.
The stock closed at HK$22.65 in Hong Kong, the highest level since 2007, after its biggest one-day gain, according to Bloomberg data going back to 1990.
Jade Passion Ltd, controlled by Yunfeng Financial Holdings Ltd (雲鋒控股), will buy 1.34 billion new shares in Reorient for HK$2.68 billion (US$346 million), or HK$2 each, according to a Reorient filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday last week, giving it a 56 percent stake.
It is seeking exemption from a rule requiring it to make a mandatory buyout offer for Reorient.
“This is a strategic investment for us, very much in line with our endeavor in the financial technology space as well as in extending our global reach,” Yunfeng’s chairman and co-founder David Yu (虞峰) said.
Yu holds 60 percent of Yunfeng and Ma, chairman and founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), 40 percent, according to the statement.
Reorient said it would sell a total of 1.94 billion new shares, including those Yunfeng’s group is buying, raising HK$3.89 billion. It is to use the money to support development of financial services operations and as general working capital.
Separately, Huatai Securities Co’s (華泰證券) shares rose as much as 7.3 percent on their Hong Kong debut.
The stock closed up 4.84 percent at HK$26.10 yesterday, as investors bet that the broker would continue to benefit from a boom on the nation’s stock markets.
However, there are concerns that the Chinese stock market boom will turn to bust after the Shanghai Composite Index more than doubled in the past year. A 6.5 percent plunge of the Shanghai index on Thursday last week highlighted the risk of a market correction.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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