‘Missing’ Chinese tycoon is being questioned by authorities

Shares in one of its core investments, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, also tumbled Monday, and other group stocks that had been under a trading stoppage Friday sold off as well.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, part of the Fosun Group that owns Club Mditerrane as well as the Chase Manhattan building in NY, said in a statement that group Chairman Guo Guangchang was “assisting the relevant judicial organs with an investigation”, without giving details.

In August, Mr Guo said that his company aimed to grow its private banking business to manage more than $100 billion.

Chinese internet news portal Sohu reported on Friday that Guo was helping with a probe into Ai Baojun, a former vice mayor of Shanghai, who has been under investigation by the country’s anti-graft watchdog since early November.

An anti-corruption crackdown led by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has snared dozens of executives at state companies.

Guo, 48, the billionaire co-founder and chairman of China’s biggest privately owned conglomerate, turned up briefly on stage to deliver a speech at Fosun’s annual work conference.

In its latest ratings report in May, Moody’s had said Fosun International’s liquidity profile was “weak”, and estimated its unpaid investment obligations would reach around US$4.8 billion by the end of 2015, in addition to the 24.5 billion yuan (HK$29.39 billion) of maturing short-term debt.

According to a Reuters report, Guo didn’t say where he had been and instead discussed Fosun’s strategy and performance at the Shanghai meeting. Liang believes that Guo, who is also known as the Warren Buffet of China, is not the only reason that overseas investors show their interest in Fosun. Last year, it paid 1 billion euro (£722,000,000) for Portugal’s biggest insurance company, Caixa Seguros.

It bought renowned French holiday company Club Med earlier this year and in April was part of a consortium that acquired Canadian entertainment juggernaut Cirque du Soleil.

In China’s state-dominated economy, many entrepreneurs make deals with officials or state industry managers to gain government licenses, contracts or financing, said Zhang Tianyu, a specialist in corporate governance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They cited the pending release of an announcement with “inside information.’ Phone calls to Fosun’s media and investor relations departments weren’t answered”.

Guo is China’s 17th richest person with a net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Bloomberg News.