China Billionaire’s Fosun Sells Stake In Diamond Concern To Blackstone For $455 Million

Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart, a retail subsidiary of China billionaire Guo Guangchang-controlled Fosun International, has agreed to sell 80% of its ownership in diamond-related investment arm Alpha Yu to a fund controlled by New York-based Blackrock for $455 million, Fosun said in a statement today.

The sale of the diamond processing and consulting business marks the latest disposal of assets by highly diversified Fosun amid a roller-coaster ride for investors in the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares in the past two years.

Fosun’s stock lost about two-thirds between May 2021 and Sept. 2022 amid concerns about debt. Following disposals that included steel, beer and mining stakes, its shares then soared by more than 70% to a recent high of HK$7.87 in January. They’ve since lost most of those gains, however, closing at HK$5.21 on Friday. Shares in Shanghai Yuyuan, a 61.8%-owned Fosun subsidiary that trades at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, have lost more than a quarter in the past year.

Lorie Holding, which owned 20% of Alpha Yu, sold its shares in the business to Blackrock for $113.8 million. Netherlands-based Lorie is wholly owned by Roland Lorie. Blackrock is one of the world’s largest investment companies with $991 billion under management as of March.

Amid economic turbulence in China in connection with the country’s zero-Covid polices, net profit at Fosun International in 2022 plunged to 539 million yuan, or about $77 million, from 10.8 billion yuan in 2021. Its publicly listed portfolio companies include Lanvin, Fosun Pharmaceutical, Hainan Mining, Sanyuan Foods, and Jiahui Liquor. Hong Kong-listed Fosun Tourism owns luxury hotel chain Club Med.

Guo, who directly and indirectly owns about 74% of Fosun International, is worth $3.3 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today.

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