Anbang hangs ‘for sale’ sign over majority stake in domestic securities firm
Divestment of Shenzhen-based Century Securities expected to be worth at least US$564.67 million. Anbang owns 91.65 per cent of the operation
Century Securities – a Shenzhen-based, mid-sized securities company – lost 56 million yuan in the first four months of this year. Anbang owns 91.65 per cent, according to a filing posted on China Beijing Equity Exchange on Tuesday.
Last year, it made 2 million yuan in annual profit, owned 6.7 billion yuan of assets, but had total debts worth 5.3 billion yuan, documents show.
The ownership of Century Securities has hung in abeyance, or undetermined ownership, since 2013, when its two biggest shareholders sold their stake to Anbang Group, for 1.7 billion yuan (reported at the time by Securities Times).
But the deal has never been ratified by China’s securities regulator, making Anbang unable to register as a formal shareholder, the filing said.
The filing, however, recognises the deal between Anbang and the former shareholders, while adding an official decision to dispose of the stake has now been made since the insurance giant was taken over by a “working group”, headed by China’s banking and insurance authorities.