After court order, flamboyant Chinese restaurateur Zhang Lan gets roasted online
Flamboyant businesswoman Zhang Lan draws social media attention over court battle
The fate of Zhang Lan, once hailed as one of China's most successful businesswomen, has come under intense media scrutiny after private equity group CVC Capital Partners won a court order to freeze her assets following a business dispute.
The private equity group bought a controlling stake in her high-end restaurant chain South Beauty last year. The Hong Kong High Court granted an order dated March 6 that assets under Zhang and two other respondents, Grand Lan Holdings Group and South Beauty Development, be frozen in aid of arbitration.
Zhang is a flamboyant figure in China, and her son, Wang Xiaofei is married to Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu Hsi-yuan. One of the more popular digs at the family's affairs making the rounds on social media came from Wang Sicong , the scion of mainland property tycoon Wang Jianlin . Hsu "wept and fainted in the washroom" after she heard about the court order, he said on his Weibo account.
Wang Sicong was publicly scolded by Xinhua last month after he remarked on Valentine's Day that he preferred buxom girlfriends, forcing his father to appear on state television blaming his son's Western education for his crassness.
Zhang Lan and the joke by Wang were among the most popular search terms on Sina microblog yesterday. Other online users said that "even if Zhang Lan's wealth is frozen, her son Wang Xiaofei is still wealthy".
CVC bought 82.7 per cent of South Beauty in April, 2014, for a reported US$300 million after the restaurant chain failed to list on the mainland and in Hong Kong.
Zhang, 57, remains company chairwoman and is a minority shareholder.
Justice Andrew Chung On-tak didn't reveal details of the dispute between CVC and Zhang, but said that "very substantial sums had been paid by CVC and it is still unknown where those sums now are", adding: "Money is, of course, a relatively liquid form of asset."
Neither Zhang nor CVC could be reached for comment yesterday.
South Beauty, known for its spicy Sichuan cuisine, submitted an initial public offering application to the mainland securities regulator in 2011 but gave up the A-share listing plan in early 2012.
Some high-end restaurants have reported a decline in business amid Beijing's crackdown on corruption and its austerity drive has lead to government departments and state-owned businesses cutting spending on extravagant meals. A staff member with a South Beauty outlet at Shanghai's finance and trade zone of Lujiazui told the only a few years ago diners had to reserve a table several days in advance. But that was no longer the case.
When CVC completed the buyout last year, Francis Leung, head of CVC's China operations, was in a upbeat mood, saying in a statement it was confident of "developing South Beauty's brand potential to the fullest," together with the management team led by Zhang.
South Beauty was often used as a barometer by mainland industry officials and media to gauge the overall performance of the high-end restaurant sector.
