Li Ning to cut stake in sportswear firm
The former Olympic gymnast and his brother plan to sell a 25.2 per cent interest to Viva China, fuelling talk he is giving up control of the retailer
Li Ning, the founder and chairman of Li Ning Co, plans to sell a 25 per cent stake in the mainland sportswear retailer to Viva China Holdings, a sports talent management firm under his family's control.
Shares of the Beijing-based firm fell as much as 6.2 per cent after resuming trading yesterday following a halt since Monday before closing at HK$4.60, down 4.8 per cent.
Viva China, which also resumed trading yesterday, following a suspension from last Thursday, soared 84.6 per cent to close at 12 HK cents.
"The deal will have no direct impact on Li Ning Co," said Zha Xiao, an analyst at China Merchants Securities. "Yet it still hit investors' confidence, as Li appears to be reducing his involvement in the company, and the private equity firm TPG is likely to increase control instead."
Li, a former Olympic gymnast, said yesterday he would increase his stake in the company "at an appropriate time".
Haitong International Securities analyst Elyse Wang said: %"Actually, he hasn't been involved much in the firm's operations over the past two years, and it seems his involvement will decrease further over time."