Mystery deepens over Ping An buyer
Sources say Xiao Jianhua provided financial muscle to help Charoen Pokphand's bid
Reports that a secretive mainland businessman with close links to Hong Kong tycoons and mainland officials played a key role in Charoen Pokphand Group's plan to buy HSBC's Ping An stake raise fresh questions about the real buyer and the source of funding for the deal.
HSBC this month said it would exit from China's No 2 life insurer by selling its entire 15.6 per cent Ping An stake for US$9.4 billion to CP, a Thai food exporter with no experience in insurance but well connected to Beijing.
The sale, coming after a report in The New York Times alleged the family of outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao had massive, hidden investments in Ping An, was seen as part of efforts to put the insurer in reliable hands.
"It was important to ensure the new shareholder replacing HSBC wouldn't delve into Ping An's past," said a South China Morning Post source who declined to be identified.
Xiao, who, other sources said, has been spending a lot of time in Hong Kong in recent years, is the founder and owner of Beijing-based Tomorrow Holdings, one of the mainland's leading privately held investment houses.