Bao Fan, founder and chief executive officer of China Renaissance.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Bao Fan, the dealmaker who heads Hong Kong-listed China Renaissance Holdings, is currently cooperating with an investigation carried out by Chinese authorities, the company said in a stock exchange filing published late Sunday evening.
The update of Bao’s status came almost two weeks after CR Holdings said it had been unable to contact its chairman and CEO, who is well known in China’s tech circles for brokering prominent deals such as the mega mergers between ride-hailing platforms Didi and Kuaidi, as well as food delivery startup Meituan with restaurant review site Dianping. The company, however, did not provide any details of the investigation.
“The company has been trying to locate Mr. Bao and ascertain his status,” it said in the Sunday filing, reiterating again that operations are continuing as normal, but adding that the company itself will cooperate with authorities if such requests are made.
A CR Holdings representative didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request seeking additional comments. Bao’s sudden disappearance spooked investors, who drove down shares by almost 30% since February 16, when news first broke that he had been out of contact. It also sent a chill through the country’s internet sector, which had just emerged from a yearlong crackdown that had decimated growth at many tech giants, and led investors to reassess the future outlook of firms like Alibaba and Tencent.