HK tycoons reap windfall from quick turnover of 29pc stake in Harbin group, in a deal that sparked takeover war A leading board member of Hong Kong's Community Chest, Lawrence Yu Kam-kee, is among seven key investors to have reaped $131 million from a quick flick of Harbin Brewery Group shares to Anheuser-Busch, prompting a major takeover battle with SABMiller. Mr Yu was one of four Hong Kong tycoons and three companies who secured rights to a 29 per cent stake in the company from the Harbin municipal government and re-sold it to Anheuser through British Virgin Islands firm Global Conduit Holdings. Global Conduit is run by David Sun, a former consultant with Belgian beer giant Interbrew. It also emerged yesterday that Mr Sun has a direct business relationship with Harbin Brewery director Peter Jeva Au and chief executive Peter Lo. Mr Au and Mr Lo are directors of a private fund, China Enterprise Capital, which is in the process of raising cash for investment on the mainland. Mr Sun is part of the fund's management. Despite the link, Mr Au said he knew nothing about Global Conduit except for what has been publicly disclosed. 'I really can't comment on Global Conduit,' he said. 'I really want to find out exactly what Global Conduit is. Private companies don't owe it to anyone to tell them who they are.' He added that he was oblivious of negotiations Mr Sun had with the Harbin government. 'I have not been in any decisions with the Chinese partner. I have not talked to any of my board members about selling anything to anyone.' Harbin Brewery executives are set to reap a $110 million windfall in the event of a takeover, thanks to the conditions of share options they were granted under a deal with SABMiller. The South African-based brewer has a 29 per cent stake in the company and is vying for control with Anheuser. Mr Lo has publicly backed Anheuser's offer of $5.58 a share, which values the company at $5.6 billion, from $3.3 billion in March. Harbin Brewery's shares rose 16.7 per cent yesterday to $5.95, as investors bet that SABMiller would top Anheuser's counter-offer. SABMiller executives were not available for comment yesterday. Mr Lo also could not be contacted. But Mr Au said the fund they were working on with Mr Sun was still at the commitment stage, with no cash changing hands. 'We haven't spent a dime on it up to now.' A prospectus was sent out within the past 12 months to prospective investors, giving the names of Mr Au and Mr Lo as directors. Mr Au said that although Mr Sun's name was on the document, he was not a director of the fund. Mr Sun confirmed his involvement yesterday. '[Peter Au] has invited me to join the management team. I'm actually not managing the fund per se,' he said. Mr Sun became aware of the Harbin government's desire to sell its 29 per cent stake after a previous overture to SABMiller fell through. Mr Sun joined Mr Yu - who is also chairman of Softbank Investment and Wing On Travel Holdings - and three other unidentified tycoons, Taiwanese bank SinoPac Capital, a New York hedge fund and a Hong Kong private equity firm to take the 29 per cent stake. He initially approached Interbrew as a potential buyer but Interbrew was concentrating on investments elsewhere. 'In a roundabout way Anheuser-Busch came around the globe to us ... We were basically just waiting it out,' Mr Sun said. Mr Yu and SinoPac Capital could not be reached for comment.
