Guotai Haitong Securities has launched a privatization offer for its Hong Kong-listed arm Guotai Junan International, valuing the subsidiary at approximately 3.6 billion dollars. The cash offer of HK$3.00 per share represents a substantial 44.2 percent premium to the last close before trading suspension. Guotai Junan International operates the first Chinese state-backed brokerage authorized by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission to trade virtual assets including bitcoin, ether and tether, receiving regulatory approval in June 2025.
The parent company already controls roughly 66 percent of shares and plans to cancel remaining holdings through a scheme of arrangement, which would delist the stock from the Hong Kong exchange. The takeover comes as Chinese regulators enforce a two-year wind-down of unlicensed offshore trading routes for mainland investors, having recently fined major platforms including Futu Holdings and UP Fintech a combined 331 million dollars. Privatization would eliminate separate financial reporting for the crypto-trading desk and consolidate results into Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed parent accounts.
FXnCO Insight
Traders should monitor whether Beijing’s regulatory tightening on offshore access drives more Chinese capital through newly sanctioned state-backed crypto channels like this one before public oversight disappears.
Source: Finance Magnates