Boss vanished, bond plan aborted, assets frozen: China’s private oil giant awaits unknown fate
Private conglomerate reportedly gives up on bond issuance, as creditors review exposure
The future of troubled CEFC China Energy is looking even more precarious, after its main subsidiary has reportedly given up on a bond issuance, assets of its affiliated firms were frozen, and a major rating agency downgraded its main unit.
The private conglomerate took the world by surprise after it emerged as the buyer of a 14 per cent stake in Russia’s state oil giant Rosneft for US$9.1 billion, a deal that was subsequently delayed.
Its chairman and founder Ye Jianming has also disappeared, after the Czech authorities said in a statement last month it was investigating him for “suspicions of law violation”.
A source familiar with the matter told South China Morning Post that Ye had not been arrested, but that he was assisting the authorities in China with inquiries. Ye was also trying to keep a low profile, the source added.
The influential Chinese magazine Caixin reported that Ye was being probed, but that report was later taken off its website, after China CEFC claimed it had factual errors.
Ye rapidly built a business empire worth 263 billion yuan (US$43 billion). However, the official Beijing News reported on Tuesday that CEFC Shanghai International – a key CEFC Energy subsidiary – had now halted a plan to issue 5 billion yuan worth of bonds designated to investors, blocking the one remaining channel that could have provided it with much needed cash.