187 Comments 2024-09-12

COFCO Capital Halts Rally, Major Shareholder Plans Big Stake Reduction

On October 15th, the A-share market opened low and after a brief surge, it continued to decline. By the end of the trading day, all three major stock indices closed lower. The Shanghai Composite Index barely held above 3200 points, closing at 3201.29 points, down 2.53%. The Shenzhen Component Index also fell by 2.53%, and the ChiNext Index dropped by 3.22%.

The market experienced significant fluctuations. COFCO Capital (002423.SZ), which had already recorded 9 out of 10 trading days with price limits, attempted to reach the daily price limit again in the morning of the 15th. The company subsequently issued a stock price fluctuation risk warning announcement.

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A reporter from First Financial Daily called COFCO Capital in the morning of the 15th as an investor. The company stated that its early valuation was low, and it has recently benefited from favorable policies and capital conditions, as well as performance support, which has gained the recognition of some investors. The company also advised, "We suggest rational investment. The company's stock price has nearly tripled since it started from the bottom, and objectively speaking, the investment is overheated."

However, the price limit was quickly opened, and by the end of the trading day, the increase was reduced to 1.73%, closing at 18.22 yuan per share, with a total market value of 41.981 billion yuan.

Since September 24th, COFCO Capital has recorded 9 price limits in 10 trading days, with a cumulative increase of 166.94%. According to the data from Tonghuashun's Dragon and Tiger List, since the start on September 24th, the company has been on the list for five consecutive days due to a cumulative deviation of 20% in the increase. According to the data disclosed on October 14th, CITIC Securities Co., Ltd.'s Anhui Branch topped the list of the top five brokerages with the largest purchase amount, with a total purchase amount of 132.69 million yuan.

As the stock price soared, the company's second-largest shareholder, Hongyi Hongliang (Shenzhen) Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Hongyi Hongliang"), was planning a large-scale reduction. The company announced on September 27th that Hongyi Hongliang plans to reduce its holdings in COFCO Capital by no more than 69.123 million shares, which is no more than 3% of the total share capital, through centralized bidding and block trading within three months after 15 trading days (i.e., from October 25, 2024, to January 22, 2025).

According to the 2024 interim report, COFCO Group is the controlling shareholder of COFCO Capital, holding 62.78% of the shares. Hongyi Hongliang holds 6.36% of the shares, ranking second.

At the beginning of 2019, Zhongyuan Special Steel issued shares to COFCO Group to purchase the difference part and issued shares to Hongyi Hongliang and seven other institutions to acquire their combined 35.49% equity in COFCO Capital, completing the overall acquisition. Hongyi Hongliang was allocated an additional 180 million shares, accounting for 7.8539% of the company's total share capital, becoming the second-largest shareholder of COFCO Capital.

Since the shares were unlocked in October 2021, Hongyi Hongliang has conducted multiple reductions, with a total cashed-out amount of approximately 307 million yuan. If this reduction is completed as planned, according to the latest closing price, Hongyi Hongliang will cash out more than 1 billion yuan.