Bao Fan, billionaire founder of Chinese investment bank, mysteriously disappears

Billionaire founder of Chinese investment bank Chinese renaissanceBao Fang has been missing for several days, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange. Hong Kongwhose shares lost 28.2% of their value today after the news broke.

“The company was unable to contact Mr. bao fan (…). The Board is not aware of any information indicating that Mr. Bao’s unavailability is or may be related to the group’s business or operations, which continue as normal,” the statement said. Chinese renaissance in a document sent last night to Hong Kong parquet.

According to sources familiar with the situation and cited by economic news portal Caixin, Ray He did not come to his office or appear in public for two days.

The banker is well known in the country for his involvement in important transactions in the technology sector, such as the merger of China’s Uber Didi with Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping, or travel platforms. ctrip And Kunar.

Kaisin remembers that Chinese renaissance It has already been steeped in turbulence since its president, Cong Lin, was detained by Chinese authorities in September 2022.

In fact, depending on the economic situation yikaicompany sources suggest that the disappearance Ray “has something to do” with the situation of Kong, hired in 2020 by the founder Chinese renaissance after a long career in which he mostly worked for the country’s largest state-owned bank, ICBC.

Bao Fan, architect of major technology mergers in China

News of the disappearance of the billionaire founder of the Chinese investment bank chinese renaissance, Bao Fan raised many questions about this Asian businessman, the architect of major technology mergers in his country.

Bao, a 52-year-old entrepreneur who was a student in the late 1980s Fudan Universityappeared on the map of the Asian giant as the country’s tech companies began to grow at a breakneck pace.

In 2005, after working for Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley in the 1990s during the internet boom, he founded Chinese renaissance to support technology entrepreneurs in China.

Started as a financial advisory firm, the institution has changed course to focus today on investment banking and investment and wealth management.

From its beginning Ray and his firm spearheaded more than a dozen high-profile deals, including the merger of Didi’s ride-sharing platforms known as chinese uber- and food delivery company Kuaidi or Meituan with restaurant critic Dianping.

Chinese renaissance also acted as a debt underwriter in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s US$2 billion initial public offering in 2014 and in a US$5.4 billion sale of the video platform. Hong Kong in 2021reported by various local media.

Bao, as the organization’s chief executive, has taken appropriate steps for the firm to start trading on the Hong Kong stock market from 2018.

This disappearance is reminiscent of those that occurred in 2015, when at least five executives from different companies became unrecognizable without prior notice, including the President of Fosun Group. Guo Guangchangwho was later announced to be cooperating with the authorities in the investigation.

EFE