Renaissance shares tumble after its founder Bao Fan became ‘uncontactable’, sending a cloud over the deal maker behind Didi, Meituan and Kuaishou

China Renaissance said that it had been ‘unable to contact’ its founder and chairman Bao Fan, a key figure in the fundraising and mergers of Didi, Meituan and Trip.com
Shares of one of China’s largest private investment banks plunged as much as 50 per cent to an intraday low of HK$5, before clawing back some losses to close at HK$7.18

Banking & finance

Iris Ouyang

Published: 10:29am, 17 Feb 2023

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China Renaissance Holdings Limited’s shares plunged, after the investment bank and deal maker behind the initial public offerings (IPO) of Didi and Meituan said it could not reach its founder and chairman.

Bao Fan, born in 1970, could not be contacted, according to Renaissance’s statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX), released late last night. Its stock plunged as much as 50 per cent to an intraday low of HK$5.00, before clawing back some of the loss to close at HK$7.18 in Hong Kong, its lowest level since its 2018 listing.

The company’s board “is not aware of any information that indicates that Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations of the group which is continuing normally”, according to the statement.

Renaissance did not reply to an emailed request for clarification from the South China Morning Post.

Bao Fan, founder and chairman of China Renaissance Holdings Limited at the International Commerce Centre (ICC) in West Kowloon on 26 January 2018. Photo: Xiaomei Chen.

Renaissance’s investment banking head Wang Lixing told employees on Friday morning to “believe in the group, believe in the executive committee, not lose our heads”, and “not to spread or believe rumours”, according to a report by the Financial Times, citing a message to staff. “The available information is limited”, he said.

Renaissance is one of the largest investment banks in China, with more than 400 staff on its payroll in Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York. The firm completed over 370 transactions valued at over US$71 billion in July 2016, according to its website.

Bao, born in Shanghai, worked for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in London, New York and Hong Kong before striking out on his own in 2005 to establish Renaissance. He took his firm public in 2018, naming it Huaxing in Chinese, in a nod to his belief that China is in a period of its cultural, political and economic renaissance.

Timeline: how Didi went from poster child to incurring Beijing’s wrath

The bank has been an active matchmaker in China’s financial circles, especially in the fast-expanding internet-related technology industry.

Renaissance helped introduce many of China’s largest and best-known technology start-ups to the capital markets of Hong Kong and New York. It led and worked on the mergers of Didi and Kuaidi to create Didi-Chuxing, Meituan and Dianping, Ctrip’s takeover of Qunar to create Trip.com, 58.com and Ganji.com.

The bank was one of the Chinese bookrunners in Didi’s US$4.4 billion New York IPO in June 2021. The controversial sale, which defied Chinese regulators’ warnings and was described as a “deliberate act of deceit”, quickly led to a crackdown by a slew of regulators on China’s dominant ride hailing service, ultimately forcing Didi to delist from New York 11 months later.

Renaissance was a top underwriter for Kuaishou Technology’s US$5.4 billion listing in Hong Kong, the biggest internet IPO since Uber Technologies’ debut in 2019. The IPO by the short video-sharing app was overbought by a record 1,201 times when shares were made available to Hong Kong’s retail investors.

Those who got their hands on Kuaishou’s shares got a 190 per cent windfall when the stock surged on their trading debut. The stock lost 80 per cent of its value within six months, and remains below its initial offer price.