China Renaissance CEO Bao Fan goes missing
Hong Kong (CNN) One of China’s best investment bankers has become unreachable, according to his company.
China Renaissance, a Beijing-based investment bank and private equity firm, said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday that it “was unable to contact” Bao Fan, its chairman and CEO.
Shares of the company plunged as much as 50% on Friday after the Hong Kong news. The stock closed down 28%.
“The board is not aware of any information that indicates that Mr. Bao’s unavailability is or may be related to the business and/or operations of the group,” the company said in the filing.
Bao is known as an experienced dealmaker in China’s tech industry. He helped broker the 2015 merger between two of the country’s leading food delivery services, Meituan and Dianping. Today, the combined company’s “super app” platform is ubiquitous in China.
Bao began his investment banking career at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in the late 1990s and later worked as an advisor on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.
His team has also invested in US-listed Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers No (NEVER) and Li Auto and helped Chinese internet giants baidu (BIDU) And JD.com (JD) complete their secondary listings in Hong Kong.
Bao did not immediately respond to messages from CNN on WeChat on Friday, while China Renaissance has not yet responded to a request for comment.
According to Caixin, a reputable Chinese financial news outlet, the financial services company recently had to deal with another similar disruption. Chinese authorities arrested the company’s president, Cong Lin, in September, the company reported, citing unidentified sources.
China has a long history of imprisoning executives
Bao’s disappearance follows the disappearances of other high-profile business leaders in China, where it’s not uncommon for executives to suddenly disappear from the radar with no explanation.
In 2020, real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang disappeared for several months after allegedly speaking out against Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Ren was eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison on corruption charges.
In 2017, insurance giant Anbang warned shareholders that its chairman, Wu Xiaohui, was unable to perform his duties after he was reportedly arrested by authorities amid a state investigation. At the time, Anbang gave “personal reasons” for his absence. Wu was eventually imprisoned for 18 years,
Also in 2017, Xiao Jianhua, a tycoon who controlled Tomorrow Holdings, was confiscated from his room at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel by Chinese security agents and taken to mainland China. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in August 2022.
Another high-profile case occurred in 2015 when Guo Guangchang, the billionaire dubbed the “Warren Buffett of China,” was reported missing by the conglomerate he ran. This group, Fosun, later confirmed that Guo was assisting the authorities in an investigation.
Senior executives from dozens of Chinese companies also disappeared that year. Some later returned to their positions, others did not.