Finance Associated Press, December 20 (Reporter Chen Kang).Due to the planned change of control, Hongqi Chain (002697SZ) announced a new actual controller a week after the suspension, which is neither the "second generation" ** as speculated by the public nor the legendary "second shareholder" to take over.
On the evening of December 20, Hongqi Chain announced that Cao Shiru, the actual controller of the company, and Cao Zengjun, who acted in concert, and Yonghui Supermarket (601933SH) will respectively hold 691% of the shares, 10% of the company's total share capital and the corresponding shareholder rights and interests were transferred to Sichuan Commercial Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Commercial Investment"). After the completion of this equity change, the total shares of the company held by Commercial Investment Investment accounted for 16 of the total share capital of Hongqi Chain91%, and the voting rights of the companies controlled by it are 2132%。
Since then, the controlling shareholder of Hongqi Chain has been changed to Commercial Investment Investment, and the actual controller of the company has been changed to Sichuan Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Before the change, the actual controller of Hongqi Chain was Cao Shiru, who served as the chairman and general manager of the company and held 24 of the company08% of the shares, Cao Zengjun, who acted in concert, served as vice chairman and secretary of the board of directors, holding 355% of the shares, the two are mother and child relationship;Yonghui Supermarket, the second largest shareholder, held a 21% stake in Hongqi before the transfer of shares. There has been speculation in the market that control may be passed to Cao Zengjun or Yonghui.
Yonghui Supermarket and Hongqi Chain have had equity exchanges since 2017, although they are optimistic about the prospects of Hongqi Chain business development, but Yonghui Supermarket itself has not been in good condition in recent years, and it is afraid that it is weak to take over. In the first three quarters of this year, Yonghui's net profit was only 52.29 million, and it was a huge loss from 2021 to 2022. On the day when Hongqi Chain issued a suspension announcement, Yonghui Supermarket issued a ** asset announcement to hold 38.8 billion Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group shares *** shares with 45300 million yuan**, the purpose is to revitalize the company's assets.
In Chengdu, Sichuan, Hongqi chains can be seen everywhere. The company was founded in 2000 and listed on the A-share market in 2012, with the title of "the first share of supermarket chains". According to the company's official website, Hongqi has opened more than 3,600 supermarket chains in Sichuan Province, with more than 400 million annual consumers.
With the help of the share and influence of the local market in Sichuan, as well as the advantages in the field of community supermarkets and convenience stores, Hongqi Chain has performed relatively stable at the moment when the pressure of traditional supermarkets is bursting this year, with a net profit of 1 in the three quarters400 million yuan, 11.6 billion yuan, 1500 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of double digits.
However, Hongqi chain has also been questioned because of the over-concentration of layout, extended inventory turnover cycle and other issues, some data show that as of 2022, Hongqi chain's secondary urban stores in non-Chengdu areas account for less than 5% of the overall number of stores.
When planning the transfer of control, the company's senior management once said, "The transfer of control of Hongqi Chain is a good thing for Hongqi Chain, which is conducive to the development of Hongqi Chain to a more stable, high-quality and efficient path." The takeover of state-owned assets may inject some "new forces" into Hongqi.