Diversified Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun International announced last week that it is organising a share sale to raise up to $668 million to help pursue its goal of becoming the Berkshire Hathaway of Asia.
According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, Fosun, which invests in industries from retail, to insurance, to healthcare, and also has extensive real estate holdings announced last week that it will offer 39 shares for every 500 shares held, at HK$9.76 (US$1.26) each, adding 7.2 percent to the company’s capital base.
Since the share sale was announced last week, Fosun’s stock has risen to HK$9.87 per share on the Hong Kong exchange, as of closing time on Monday.
More Fuel for a China Outbound Investment Engine
The company, which is run by billionaire chairman Guo Guangchang, has frequently professed its goal of following Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy and has made a string of overseas investments recently, including deals in New York, Greece, Germany and Portugal.
In late March, the Shanghai-based company picked up a 620-hectare seaside site in Athens through a Euros 915 million ($1.26 billion) joint investment, and during the same week paid Euros 98.5 million, together with a fund it controls to become the second largest shareholder in German investment bank BHF-BANK.
In January this year Fosun acquired Portuguese insurance firm Caixa Seguros e Saude for 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion), and it made international headlines in October last year by purchasing One Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York for $725 million.
Earlier in 2013, Fosun, together with French insurer AXA acquired France’s Club Med resorts for a reported $700 million.
Leave a Reply