Why has a Chinese waste recycler spent US$75 million on a Michelangelo painting?
A Chinese company previously focused on recycling has taken a novel approach to the diversification of its investment portfolio, spending US$75 million to buy a painting, Crucifixion, by 16th-century Italian master Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, more commonly known as Michelangelo.
Yulong Eco-Materials, which until recently was focused on recycling bricks and concrete, announced earlier this week that it had bought the painting, which depicts the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Michelangelo is most famous for painting Rome’s Sistine Chapel, and for his sculpture, David.
The company says it wants to “open the opportunity of shared ownership of its acquired masterpieces to anyone with a brokerage account”, and adds that it will pay for the acquisition by offering 7.5 million shares for sale at US$10 per share.
In an abrupt turnaround, Yulong now says it wants to focus on this business model, rather than recycling.
The Michelangelo is its second serious acquisition, following the purchase of a 61,500-carat gem known as the “Millennium Sapphire” in October for around US$50 million.
It also offered shares for sale in the gemstone, and has plans to take the jewel on a world tour, according to a Bloomberg report.
“Yulong has pioneered this new disruptive business model by the acquisition and securitisation of fine art through a Nasdaq-listed security,” said Yulong’s executive chairman Daniel McKinney.
Shares in Yulong jumped as much 47 per cent on November 19, the day the purchase was announced, while in October, after the acquisition of the Millennium Sapphire, shares increased almost 1,000 per cent.
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Yulong Eco-Materials has acquired ‘Crucifixion’ by the Italian master, and plans to sell 7.5 million shares in it at US$10 each