Fosun International (0656)

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Chinese conglomerate Fosun eyes take over of Ageas, Belgium’s largest life insurance provider
Shanghai-based company already owns 3pc stake in insurer with a market cap of US$11 billion

Peggy Sito
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 25 July, 2018, 7:23pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 25 July, 2018, 8:28pm

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, one of the country’s biggest buyers of assets and companies globally, plans to extend its presence in Belgium with the takeover of Ageas, its biggest life insurance provider.

The Shanghai-based company is in discussions with the financial advisers of Brussels-based Ageas, which has a market capitalisation of €9.4 billion (US$11 billion). Fosun already holds about 3 per cent of Ageas stock, while Ping An Insurance (Group) Company, another mainland conglomerate, is its largest shareholder with a 5 per cent stake.

“We have had an initial discussion. But the talks are not yet at a stage where we can approach the insurer’s management,” said a source familiar with the matter. “Fosun prefers to take a controlling stake if the deal goes ahead.

“But Ageas’ share price rose after the news was leaked, and this could deter Fosun’s investment desire,” said the source. Fosun declined to comment on the matter.
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Ageas is a listed international insurance group with a history spanning 190 years. It is the no. 1 player in the life insurance market and No. 2 in non-life insurance in Belgium. About one out of every two Belgian households is its customer, according to the company’s website.

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...ms-largest

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Fosun to double down on family-related investments after stakes in Club Med, Lanvin and others boost interim results to a record
* Fosun to strengthen existing products, including medicines and holiday resorts
* Also looking to buy start-ups with leading technology

Yujing Liu  
Published: 1:56pm, 28 Aug, 2019

Chinese private conglomerate Fosun International plans to launch new products aimed at families within two years, according to company officials, after it posted record first-half revenue and its first interim dividend arrangement.

“We are seeing initial success with our strategy to focus on family consumption, from the aspects of happiness, health and wealth,” billionaire and Fosun co-founder Guo Guangchang said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The company gave no details on the kinds of family products it will focus on.

The company will continue developing and strengthening its existing products, which range from innovative drugs to holiday resorts and insurance, and look for opportunities to acquire controlling stakes in companies that could complement its product lines, Guo said.

Fosun, known for a slew of overseas assets it has acquired in recent years such as French fashion brand Lanvin and holiday resort operator Club Med, will also be interested in investing in unicorns – or start-ups valued at over US$1 billion – that have leading technology, Guo said.

The comments came after Fosun’s first-half sales rose 57 per cent to a record 65.5 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion), beating the consensus estimate of 59.2 billion yuan in a Bloomberg poll. Net profit rose by 11 per cent to 7.6 billion yuan, prompting the company to pay its first interim dividend of HK$0.13 per share, Fosun said in a stock exchange filing

Its debt-to-equity ratio, which measures the financial leverage, dropped to 53.2 per cent from 53.7 per cent in last year. Company officials reiterated the goal of lifting its return on equity (ROE), a key metric for profitability, to 15 per cent from the current 13.6 per cent.

Fosun’s shares climbed by as much as 6.2 per cent to an intraday high of HK$10.16 before earnings were announced, ending the day 4 per cent up at HK$9.95.

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...t-unicorns

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Thomas Cook’s demise scuttles Fosun’s goal of creating a global leisure empire spanning airline, tour operator, resorts and shows
* Thomas Cook Group, which traces its root to Thomas Cook & Sons in London in 1842, went into liquidation on Monday after failing to secure £200 million to keep creditors at bay
* Fosun had already extended a £900 million financial lifeline to the UK company last month, in exchange for stakes in Thomas Cook’s airline and tour operations

Peggy Sito  
Published: 9:30pm, 23 Sep, 2019

Fosun’s ambition to create one of the world’s largest leisure conglomerates – comprising a marquee hotel brand, an airline, a century-old tour operator, and one of the most iconic shows on earth – fell £200 million (US$249 million) short of saving Thomas Cook Group from liquidation.

Thomas Cook, the 178-year-old UK tour operator, was liquidated on Monday after failing to come up with additional money to keep creditors at bay. Its demise left 600,000 holidaying customers in the lurch, forcing the UK government to charter dozens of flights to bring hundreds of thousands of tourists home, in what authorities said was the biggest peacetime repatriation of British subjects.

The collapse of Thomas Cook, to which Fosun offered £900 million in the form of a financial lifeline last month, weighed on the Shanghai-based conglomerate’s listed equities. Shares of Fosun Tourism, which owns the Club Med chain off luxury resorts and hotels, fell 4.4 per cent amid a declining market in Hong Kong to HK$10.06, while Fosun International the holding company fell 1.5 per cent to HK$10.30.

Still, the collapse of Thomas Cook may not be an entirely bad thing for Fosun, said VC Asset Management’s managing director Louise Tse Ming-kwong.

“It could be a burden if Fosun took control of the company,” he said.

Thomas Cook, the result of a 2007 merger between Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group, can trace its root to Thomas Cook & Sons in 1841. It has 21,000 employees on staff in 16 countries, 40 per cent of whom work in the UK. The company’s businesses are divided into tour operations in 17 countries including Thomas Cook China – a venture with Fosun – since 2016. The division also operates chains of hotels, inclusive of the Cook’s Club, Sunprime and Sentido hotels in Asia.

Thomas Cook also operates airlines in the UK, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany since 2001, with a fleet comprising 117 Airbus and Boeing aircraft in service as of August 2019.

The London-listed travel company on Monday said it had entered compulsory liquidation after failing to come to an agreement with creditors on the bailout plan by Fosun, led by Shanghai entrepreneur Guo Guangchang, and the court appointed the Official Receiver liquidator to help liquidate the businesses,

All the companies in its group have ceased trading, including Thomas Cook Airlines and retail shops, Thomas Cook said in its official website. The company’s airlines would be grounded, according to Associated Press.

Fosun Tourism, which has a presence in the European market through its ownership of the Club Med holiday business, has an 18 per cent stake in Thomas Cook. Last month, it agreed to offer Thomas Cook a financial lifeline in exchange for at least 75 per cent of the UK company's main holiday business and around 25 per cent of the airline division, while banks and creditors would control the remainder of the carrier and 25 per cent of new equity in the tour unit.

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...al-leisure