Southwest Securities, a mainland brokerage recently bailed out by the government, plans a backdoor listing by buying control of Chongqing Changjiang River Water Transport.
The plan is the fifth backdoor listing this year by a mainland brokerage that cannot meet the profit track record requirement to carry out an initial public offering.
Mainland brokerages, battered by the slump in stock markets in previous years, returned to profits this year as the markets revived.
Shanghai-listed Chongqing Changjiang said it signed an agreement with Southwest Securities last Friday for a plan to reorganise the two firms together.
'The announcement makes it clear that we're working on the backdoor listing plan now,' a source at Chongqing Changjiang said. 'The details haven't been worked out yet.'
The company's shares were suspended from trading yesterday. They last traded at 2.81 yuan.
