A private equity fund co-founded by Wen Yunsong, the son of Premier Wen Jiabao, has distanced the princeling from a windfall it gained in a proposed Hong Kong listing of a mainland pharmaceutical maker.
Beijing-based New Horizon Capital, which was forced to abandon its plans to take a stake in Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group's initial public offering, said in a statement yesterday that Wen no longer worked for the company. Wen is also known as Winston Wen.
Despite not going ahead with the stake purchase owing to listing regulations, New Horizon made a 57 per cent windfall on its initial investment when Sihuan returned the deal money with a premium.
According to the listing prospectus, the private equity firm announced in July it wanted to buy 9 per cent of Sihuan shares for 540 million yuan (HK$629.68 million).
The plan, however, was scrapped because the Hong Kong stock exchange raised concerns that the purchase was too close to the proposed listing date, a possible breach of listing rules.
Pre-IPO investors are able to buy shares at a discount before a flotation, but investors who place orders for shares at the IPO stage will have to pay the full price. Wen was not immediately available for comment.
