China Huarong takes 5.8% stake in toll road operator

China CITIC Financial Asset Management

20/11/2023 13:09

Nov 20 (Reuters) - State-owned China Huarong Asset
Management  2799.HK  said it plans to buy a 5.8% stake in China
Merchants Expressway Network & Technology  001965.SZ  for 3.01
billion yuan ($417.4 million). 
    The deal is expected to bring stable earnings to Huarong and
optimize its asset allocation, the distressed debt manager said
in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
    Huarong is buying the China Merchants Expressway stake from
Zhongxin No.1, a fund linked to the state asset regulating
authority in the southwestern Chinese municipality of Chongqing,
according to the filing.  
    Huarong purchased the stake at 8.4 yuan per share, or 90.71%
of the 9.26 yuan closing price on the last trading day before
the deal was signed, according to the filing. 
    Huarong said last month it has agreed to buy a 5.01% stake
in CITIC Ltd  0267.HK  for HK$13.63 billion ($1.75 billion) from
Chinese finance ministry-controlled CITIC Group, which also
holds a 26.5% stake in Huarong.   
    Huarong also said it plans to change its name to China CITIC
Financial Asset Management Co Ltd, in a bid to leverage the
brand value of CITIC Group. 
    China Merchants Expressway, which runs toll road and
transport technology businesses, reported a net profit of 5.25
billion yuan in 2022, compared with 5.54 billion yuan in 2021,
Huarong's filing showed. 
    

($1 = 7.2111 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 7.7949 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Kane Wu; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((hongkong.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; （8610）6627-1277;
Reuters Messaging: roxanne.liu@thomsonreuters.com))