Huarong Asset buys 36.2% stake in CEFC China unit

BEIJING: State-controlled China Huarong Asset Management Co has bought a 36.2 percent stake in the unit of CEFC China Energy through which CEFC is acquiring a $9.1 billion stake in Russia’s Rosneft, a filing by the CEFC unit showed. Huarong acquired the stake in CEFC Hainan International in two tranches, in December and in February, according to a filing on Feb. 13 by CEFC Hainan at an online portal run by the State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC).

CEFC subsidiary CEFC Shanghai International Group Co owns the remaining 63.8 percent in CEFC Hainan. Huarong made the stake purchase through its unit, Huarong Ruitong Equity Investment Management Co.

It was not immediately clear how much Huarong paid for the stake, but the filing showed CEFC Hainan’s registered capital expanded by 9.6 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) as a result of Huarong Ruitong’s fund injection.

Huarong Ruitong and CEFC did not immediately comment. Chinese financial publication Caixin, in a story published late Friday, quoted an unnamed China Huarong official as saying the firm did not purchase the stake and instead was ordered to conduct a debt-for-equity swap by the government. China Huarong could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters and other Chinese and international media reported last week that Ye Jianming, the chairman and founder of privately owned CEFC, had been investigated for suspected economic crimes.