Exclusive | China’s probes on Fosun, HNA and others unleash the power of the unsaid word
The unusual loan check ordered by Beijing and political rumours cast a cloud over investors’ interests on China’s top overseas acquirer
In China, the biggest risk comes not from what’s been said, but what’s unsaid.
Four of China’s biggest offshore asset buyers – Anbang, Fosun, HNA Group and Wanda – were placed under regulatory scrutiny since mid-June, causing the prices of companies linked to them to plummet.
Even though nothing amiss was found, and regulatory sources and bank officials were at pains to stress that there’ll been no change in risks, some investors are getting cold feet.
The latest drama unfolded on Thursday, when Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, the flagship drugmaker of the Fosun Group, plunged as much as 7 per cent in Hong Kong and 8.9 per cent in Shanghai, after word got around on some Chinese news portals that the conglomerate’s founder and chairman Guo Guangchang had been “unreachable,” a euphemism to imply that the person had been detained for investigations.
Guo had indeed been unreachable, only because he’d been in Xi’an delivering a speech. His return flight to Shanghai was delayed -- he flew commercial as his private jet was under maintenance -- due to air traffic congestion.