By Reuters
February 26, 2023 Updated:
February 26, 2023
Fan Bao, founder and CEO
of China Renaissance, speaks at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach,
Calif., on Oct. 25, 2016. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
BEIJING—China Renaissance Holdings said in an
exchange filing on Sunday that its missing chairman and star dealmaker Bao Fan
was currently cooperating with relevant Chinese authorities conducting an
investigation.
This is the first time
the mainland China-based boutique bank has given a reason for the disappearance
of its founder—who was reported missing 10 days ago—though no details about the
investigation were shared.
“The Board would like to
reiterate that the business and operations of the Group are continuing
normally,” the bank said in the exchange filing.
Shares of the company
slumped last week after it said in an exchange filing the company had been unable
to contact Bao.
The dealmaker’s
disappearance is the latest in a series of cases of high-profile Chinese
executives going missing with little explanation during a sweeping anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by
Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
In 2015 alone, at least
five executives became unreachable without prior notice to their companies,
including Fosun Group Chairman Guo Guangchang, who Fosun later said was
assisting with investigations regarding a personal matter.
Bao’s disappearance also
comes against the backdrop of more than two years of sweeping regulatory
crackdown on technology companies.
Bao, also China
Renaissance’s controlling shareholder, started the firm in 2005 as a two-person
team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and
private equity investors.
The firm later expanded
into services including underwriting, sales and trading.
Known to be well
connected in the corporate world, Bao was involved with tech mergers including
the tie-up of ride-hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan
and Dianping, as well as travel platforms Ctrip and Qunar.
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