Court deals Yang Rong another blow
A court has ordered Yang Rong's stake in a Shanghai-listed company to be frozen, dealing another blow to the mainland entrepreneur.
According to the Shanghai Securities Times, the court was acting at the request of another major shareholder when it froze Mr Yang's 12.47 million shares in Shanghai Brilliance Holdings.
Mr Yang was dismissed as chairman of Hong Kong and New York-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings in June in an asset dispute with the Liaoning provincial government.
Both Brilliance China, the mainland's top mini-van maker, and Shanghai Brilliance, a Shanghai-listed A share, are part of an investment empire that Mr Yang founded over the past decade.
Late last month, Ningbo Zhenyun Industry applied to an intermediate court in Ningbo city to have Mr Yang's shares frozen because, it claimed, it was in a debt dispute with the businessman.
Ningbo Zhenyun holds 75 per cent of Shenzhen Zhengguo Investment & Development, which is the largest shareholder of Shanghai Brilliance, with a 15.19 per cent stake.
Mr Yang is chairman and the second-largest shareholder of Shanghai Brilliance.
Mr Yang previously alleged that the Liaoning provincial government had been trying to take over the entire assets of his investment empire.
Shanghai Brilliance closed 6.5 per cent lower yesterday, while shares in Brilliance China finished 5.13 per cent weaker.
Last week, Mr Yang reportedly hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit with a Beijing court as part of his battle against the Liaoning government to recover what he claimed were personal investments.
Mr Yang was also reported to be attempting to wrest back control of Hong Kong-listed Compass Pacific Holdings.
In 1992, Mr Yang made his mark by becoming the first person to help a mainland state-owned company raise money from an overseas market through a listing in New York, a move Beijing is said to be not pleased with because it came without prior approval.
