Fosun International released a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange stating that Chairman Guo Guangchang is now assisting investigators after reports appeared in a Chinese daily stating that employees at the company had been unable to contact Guo.
Advertisement
Mr Guo, whose Fosun empire snapped up the Club Med resort chain in a billion-dollar deal this year and also has a slice of United Kingdom travel operator Thomas Cook, is one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs.
Sohu.com reported on Friday that Mr Guo was helping with the investigation of Mr Ai.
Chinas authorities have been clamping down on corruption in the business and finance sector and earlier this year a sting of top figures were found to have temporarily gone missing.
And Fosun said that Mr Guo would still be able to take part in major company decisions through appropriate means, although it declined to elaborate.
Mr Guo, 48, is one of China’s biggest investors overseas.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Monday that Guo gave a speech at the annual meeting focusing on company strategies, but did not address his disappearance or the investigation.
Last month, the chairman of Guotai Junan International’s Hong Kong unit, Yim Fung, was reportedly unreachable.
“An extended investigation of Guo could potentially have a negative impact on the company’s access to funding and its acquisitions that are pending completion”, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said on Monday, adding that there was no immediate impact on Fosun International’s ratings.
The Financial Times dubbed him “China’s Warren Buffett” for following the legendary American investor’s approach of using the cash flow from insurance operations to buy other businesses.
It also marched into entertainment and tourism industries, by acquiring French holiday group Club Mediterranee in March and purchasing a 25 per cent stake in Cirque du Soleil in May. However, in the wake of the summer’s stock market rout, the authorities have intensified their anti-corruption campaign to root out manipulation in the stock market.
He is a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and has amassed a personal net worth of $5.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Advertisement
On Monday, China’s biggest brokerage, state-owned Citic Securities Co., said it could not contact the two managers in charge of its China and worldwide investment banking business.
