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Denise Tsang

Shares of toymaker RBI Holdings went against the stock market downturn yesterday, soaring more than threefold on news the company was branching into producing solar energy equipment.
The stock shot to a new high of HK$4.39 from HK$1.30 on September 3 when trading was suspended. It had its busiest dealing in 12 years, with 62.64 million shares changing hands.
Some brokers said investors were blindly chasing after stocks with renewable power concepts. 'It is surprising that punters are still blindly speculating on solar or wind power-related stocks. The reality is that there are over-investments in solar energy projects in China,' Fulbright Securities general manager Francis Lun Sheung-nim said. 
'They will get their fingers burnt if they do not wake up to the reality.'
RBI, a toymaker for the past 30 years, said on Thursday it offered HK$4.18 billion to take over Apollo Precision, which produces silicon-based thin film solar photovoltaic modules in Beijing. 
In a separate deal, it agreed to sell 49 per cent of its core toy manufacturing operations to the group's co-founder and consultant, David Yip Yun-kuen, for HK$71 million.
RBI will retain its 51 per cent stake in the toy business until the end of next year. 
To settle the payment of the Apollo deal, the group plans to settle 90 per cent of it by issuing four-year convertible bonds worth HK$3.81 billion and the rest by issuing new shares. The bonds and  shares effectively means a change of control, which will result in vendors of Apollo, led by founder Lin Chaohui, holding 63.03 per cent assuming all the bonds are converted and shares are issued.
RBI will be renamed Apollo Solar Energy Technology Holdings.
Apollo, which recorded a HK$2.72 million net loss between November 4 last year and July 31, was guaranteed a US$55 million profit in the 11 months ended June next year based on 1.02 billion yuan (HK$1.81 billion) worth of contracts on hand.
Branching out
Toymaker RBI offering HK$4.18 billion to take over Apollo Precision
The stock shot up threefold yesterday to close at a record high of, in HK$: $4.39



RBI soars on news of venture into solar energy