Famed Chinese Rainmaker Goes Missing in Latest Executive Disappearance

Bao Fan, Chinese dealmaker and founder Investment Bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd. has vanished in the latest disappearance a top business executive. This unnerved investors and sent its stock down as high as 50% on Friday.

In an exchange filing, the boutique bank based in mainland China stated that it was unable to contact Bao on Thursday night.

China Renaissance’s board didn’t know about any information that suggested Bao’s. “unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations” It stated that the group was continuing as normal.

The disappearance by the dealmaker is the latest in a string of disappearances of high-profile Chinese executives. These disappearances were all caused by a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign that was spearheaded by Xi Jinping. But the reasons for Bao’s disappearance are not clear.

In 2015, at most five executives were unreachable to their companies without prior notice. Guo Guangchang, Fosun Group Chairman, was one of these executives. Fosun later stated that Guo Guangchang was participating in investigations into a personal matter.

In 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), aiming at the country’s large financial sector, launched a new round in a long-running regulatory crackdown.

Bao, the controlling shareholder, chairman, and CEO of China Renaissance, was killed. This led to China Renaissance’s Hong Kong listed stock falling to HK$5 early trade. It wiped out HK$2.8billion ($360m).

Later in the day, the stock gained some ground to close down 28 percent in Hong Kong’s market which fell 1.3 percent. On Friday, nearly 30,000,000 shares of the boutique bank for investment changed hands. This is the most ever recorded.

Bao, who worked previously at Credit Suisse Group AG (Morgan Stanley), has been called one of China’s most connected bankers.

Major technology mergers involved him, including the tie up of ride-hailing services Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery companies Meituan & Dianping, and travel platforms Ctrip & Qunar.

“If a listed company voluntarily discloses that a senior manager or a major shareholder cannot be contacted, it’s truly unusual, as the person might have been out of reach for some time,” Dickie Wong is the Kingston Securities executive director of research.

Investors fear the worst because a company is unable to continue operations. Wong said that it is not unusual for a stock sale due to this uncertainty.

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry, said that he didn’t know about the situation when he was asked Friday at a news conference if the banker was being held.

Deals Adviser

A spokesperson from China Renaissance referred Reuters’ Friday request for comment to the public file of the investment bank.

China Renaissance is currently ranked ninth in China’s equity markets league table for 2023. This ranking was based on Refinitiv’s advice on Jiangsu Sanfame Polyester Material’s convertible bond of $363 Million.

According to the data, $20.6 Million in Chinese related investment banking fees was earned by the company in 2022, which is down from $43.13 millions a year ago.

China Renaissance was started by Bao as a two-person team in 2005. The goal was to find capital-hungry startups a match with venture capitalists and private equity investors. The company has since expanded into trading and underwriting services.

After raising $346 million, the investment bank made its Hong Kong debut in 2018.

China Renaissance was an advisor to some of China’s largest tech initial public offerings (IPOs), such as those of JD.Com Inc, Kuaishou Technology and Didi’s New York listing for 2021.

China Renaissance is an active investor in tech. It raised over $650 million ($950 million) in a yuan denominated fund.

Bao’s disappearance occurs days after Seazen Group Ltd, a property developer, said that it couldn’t reach or contact its vice-chairman.

($1 = 7.8483 Hong Kong dollars)