Which ex-wife’s “breakup fee” is the most expensive?
author | Han Zizhu
editor | Wu Lijuan
source | Ye Ye Finance
"This feeling can be recalled, but it was already at a loss at the time." A-shares in 2024 still do not believe in "love".
html On January 11, Jin Lei, the second shareholder of Changchun High-tech (000661.sz), the “Northeast Yaomao”, officially announced their divorce. According to his divorce agreement, Jin Lei will split approximately 30.0141 million shares of Changchun High-tech held by his ex-wife Wang Simian, accounting for approximately 7.42% of the company's total shares. If estimated based on the relevant stock prices at the time of the "Concert Acting Persons Agreement" signed by the two parties on January 11, the book value of the shares divided by Jin Lei from his ex-wife exceeds 4 billion yuan.What is the concept of 4 billion? It can basically be regarded as half of Changchun High-tech's total cash dividends in the past five years. According to its annual report data, the total cash dividends of Changchun High-tech during 2018-2022 are approximately 1.989 billion yuan (including other methods such as share repurchases).
However, this 4 billion "breakup fee" is still small compared to the divorce operation last year when the actual controller of Tongcheng New Materials (603650.sh) Liu Dong Sheng (Liu Dongsheng) gave all his 14 billion worth of stocks to his ex-wife, which caused a sensation in the A-share market. "A small witch has become a big witch."
According to Yema Finance statistics, as of the Spring Festival, the divorce "breakup fees" of the chairman or major shareholders of at least 7 listed companies exceeded 100 million yuan, and the cumulative market value of transferred stocks exceeded 31.2 billion yuan (the total in 2023 exceeded 27.4 billion yuan). Even the book value of the shares divided between the two parties exceeds the total amount of the company's recent cash dividends.
In the face of "sky-high breakup fees", the issue of "divorce reduction" of listed company executives has always attracted market attention. After all, in recent years, listed companies have used various tricks to reduce their holdings, including reducing their holdings, reducing their holdings with pledges, liquidating their holdings, reducing their holdings due to divorce, etc. The mood of shareholders is like a "roller coaster".
An industry insider said that for "divorce shareholding reduction", we must first clarify a question: after the company is listed, will the major shareholders no longer have the freedom to divorce? The regulatory requirements for holding reduction in divorce have taken into account the rights and interests of ordinary investors within a reasonable range.
So, whether the above-mentioned listed companies with "sky-high breakup fees" are really no longer in love or are "detouring to reduce holdings", let us find the answer together.
Which ex-wife’s “breakup fee” is the most expensive?
According to the announcement, between 2023 and early February 2024, the chairman or major shareholder of at least ten listed companies "officially announced" divorce, and the cumulative market value of transferred stocks exceeded 31.4 billion yuan.
Among them, the three ex-wives who received the most expensive breakup fee from are Zhang Ning, the actual controller of Tongcheng New Materials (approximately 14 billion), Hu Huan, the second shareholder of 360 (601360.sh) (approximately 9 billion), and Changchun Wang Simian, the second shareholder of Gaoxin (approximately 4 billion) .
On May 25, 2023, Tongcheng New Materials, which is committed to the field of semiconductor materials, issued an announcement stating that due to the divorce of the original actual controller Zhang Ning (Zhang Ning) and Liu Dong Sheng (Liu Dongsheng), the actual controller of the company has changed. Instead of being controlled by two people together, it was controlled by Zhang Ning alone. According to the agreement, all the equity and income of the company held by both parties directly or indirectly shall belong to zhang ning. Previously, Liu Dong Sheng (Liu Dongsheng) held 0.1% of the equity of Virgin Holdings, the second shareholder of Tongcheng New Materials.
Moreover, the two parties also signed the "Dissolution Agreement of the Concerted Action Agreement". After that, zhang ning (Zhang Ning) still holds a total of 64.66% of the equity of Tongcheng New Materials, and is the actual controller of of the listed company, and the largest shareholder Tongcheng Investment still It is the controlling shareholder of a listed company. Liu dong sheng (Liu Dongsheng) no longer holds equity in listed companies.
According to Snowball Data, as of the close on May 25, Tongcheng New Materials’ stock price was 36.47 yuan per share, with a market value of approximately 21.882 billion yuan, and 64.66% of the shares had a market value of approximately 14.149 billion yuan. , liu dong sheng (Liu Dongsheng ), after the concerted action was terminated, basically "cleaned up and left the house" in terms of equity.
's current peaceful breakup seems to be a sign based on the growth history of Tongcheng New Materials. The predecessor of Tongcheng New Materials was created by Zhang Ning's hard work from agent to service provider.Although Liu Dongsheng served as vice president for a period of time in the early days of Zhang Ning's business, judging from the announcement, Liu Dongsheng has no longer participated in the daily operations of the listed company since January 2013. From this, it seems that Zhang Ning's role in Tong Cheng Xincai’s important status is self-evident.
Judging from the stock price changes, 's stock price has shown a downward trend after Zhang Ning, the actual controller of Tongcheng New Materials, officially announced his divorce. As of the close of trading on February 8, Tongcheng New Materials' stock price was 26.36 yuan per share.
Source: Snowball
On April 4, 2023, 360 issued an announcement stating that the actual controller of Zhou Hongyi divorced his wife Hu Huan and divided the 6.25% shares of the company he directly held into Hu Huan's name.
Source: pexels
Before this, his ex-wife Hu Huan did not have any shares in 360. Now after the split, Hu Huan has become the second largest shareholder of 360, but Zhou Hongyi’s control over the listed company remains unchanged. .
According to Snowball Data, as of the close of trading on April 4, 2023, 360’s stock price was 20.08 yuan/share. Based on this estimate, the 447 million shares received by Hu Huan correspond to a market value of approximately 8.98 billion yuan.
In addition, 360 further issued an announcement stating that in the next 6 months, the second shareholder Hu Huan has no plan to reduce the shares of the listed company. Even if there is a relevant plan in the next 6-12 months, the reduction ratio will not exceed the company’s total shareholding. 1.25% of share capital. Now that the six-month period has passed, judging from the latest data released by 360-the third quarter report of 2023, Hu Huan's shares have not changed. Zhou Hongyi also stated in the above announcement that he will not increase or decrease his holdings in the next 12 months.
However, even though the company made such an announcement, investors did not seem to buy it. Judging from the stock price changes, 360’s stock price has been showing a downward trend since early April. As of the close of trading on February 8, 360’s share price was 7.17 yuan/share. Compared with the closing price on April 4, 2023, ’s stock price in early February this year fell by more than 64%.
In addition, Changchun High-tech also saw its stock price drop after the two shareholders officially announced their divorce. After all, Jin Lei had a "record" of cashing out many times before. According to Snowball Data, as of January 11, when the divorce announcement was announced, Changchun High-tech’s closing price was 133.41 yuan/share. As of the close of trading on February 8, its stock price was 120.13 yuan/share.
After seeing this situation, the company held an emergency conference call with investors in mid-January. Changchun High-tech stated that there is no special plan for the divorce of the second shareholder of , and the shares will be divided equally among the four family members.
A The most “mysterious” divorce of the year was born?
In addition to the "sky-high breakup fee" of tens of billions or billions that stuns ordinary people, an announcement that the actual controller's equity has been frozen has put Shanghai Hugong (603131.sh) on the cusp of "divorce."
On December 22, 2023, Shanghai Hugong issued an announcement stating that the company’s actual controller Shu Hongrui had been frozen by the court for 41.6956 million shares of the company due to personal divorce proceedings, accounting for 13.11% of the company’s total shares. According to Snowball Data, as of the closing day of the announcement, Shanghai Hugong’s share price was 14.25 yuan per share, and the market value of the frozen shares was approximately 594 million yuan.
Although in the announcement, Shanghai Hugong stated that the freezing matter would not have an impact on the company's normal production and operations. However, since the above-mentioned divorce lawsuit has not yet been heard in court, the final outcome of the lawsuit cannot yet be judged. Therefore, there is uncertainty about the actual change of control of the company, and investors are reminded to pay attention to investment risks.
In fact, on October 19, 2023, Shanghai Hugong publicly disclosed the divorce proceedings of the actual controller. The announcement stated that Shu Hongrui, as the plaintiff, filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai, requesting the dissolution of his marriage to Miao Liping and the division of property.
As of now, Shu Hongrui holds approximately 67.0097 million shares in the company, accounting for 21.07% of the company's total share capital.
The defendant Miao Liping is also the actual controller of Shanghai Hugong and currently holds 21.651 million shares, accounting for 6.81% of the company's total share capital. Moreover, in November last year, Shu Hongrui reduced his equity holdings by 2.43% and cashed out 94.778 million yuan.
Source: Announcement
Shanghai Hugong is a family enterprise engaged in the field of commercial satellite manufacturing. In addition to Shu Hongrui and his wife, the actual controller of the company is their son Shu Zhenyu. In June 2021, Shu Zhenyu will succeed Shu Hongrui. As of now, he directly holds 58.6136 million shares, accounting for 18.43% of the company's total share capital. Together with his parents, he holds 46.31% of the company's total share capital. Moreover, Shu Zhenyu is also the actual controller of Suzhou Zhiqiang Management, the company’s fourth largest shareholder.
If Shu Hongrui’s frozen shares are awarded to Miao Liping, Shu Hongrui will lose his status as a controlling shareholder. However, the specific shares of Miao Liping that have been divided are still unknown, so Shanghai Hugong has become the most mysterious divorce case in the A-share market in 2023.
It is worth mentioning that since the divorce proceedings were disclosed on October 19, 2023, the stock price of Shanghai Hugong has been on a downward trend. As of the close of trading on February 8, its stock price was 10.56 yuan per share, and its total market value was 3.358 billion.
After the chairman’s divorce, the stock price rose by 31.53%
It is worth mentioning that among the ten listed companies combed by Yema Finance, only Guoguang Co., Ltd. experienced an upward trend in its stock price after the chairman’s “divorce” incident.
Source: Snowball
On September 15, 2023, Guoguang Shares (002749.sz) issued an announcement stating that the company’s chairman and president Yan Yaqi had divorced his wife Hu Lixia. According to the divorce agreement, Yan Yaqi transferred the The company's 20.4492 million shares, accounting for approximately 4.7% of the company's total shares, were divided into under Hu Lixia's name. Prior to this, his ex-wife Hu Lixia did not have any shares in Guoguang Co., Ltd.
Moreover, after this equity change, Yan Yaqi's shareholding ratio in the company dropped from 9.4% to 4.7%, and he will lose more than 5% of his status as a shareholder. However, the two parties have achieved "equal equality" in terms of shareholding ratios.
As of the close of trading on September 15, 2023, the stock price of Guoguang Shares was 10.75 yuan per share, with a total market value of approximately 4.676 billion yuan, and the market value of the equity shared by ’s ex-wife Hu Lixia was approximately 220 million yuan.
By observing the changes in its stock price, we found that from September last year to early February this year, the stock price of Guoguang Shares has basically been showing an upward trend. As of the close of trading on February 8, Guoguang's share price was 14.14 yuan per share, an increase of 3.39 yuan per share, or 31.53%, from mid-September last year.
html On January 26, Jiutai Fund conducted a survey on Guoguang Shares, and its stock price rose by 29.2% in the past month. Guoguang Co., Ltd. said that the price of upstream raw materials has dropped since the fourth quarter of 2022, resulting in an increase in the company's gross profit margin, and it is expected that the overall price of upstream raw materials will not rise significantly in the future.In addition, another reason is that Guoguang Co., Ltd., which specializes in the plant growth regulator industry, is actually not controlled by Yan Yaqi who is divorced this time, but Yan Yaqi's father Yan Changxu. Therefore, the divorce incident will not have a big impact on Guoguang Co., Ltd., nor will it involve a change in the company's control.
In this regard, Guangke Consulting Shen Meng said that the stock price fluctuations of listed companies due to the divorce and reduction of shareholdings of listed companies are due to the irrational "myth" of A-share investors. Whether the founders are divorced or whether they are reducing their holdings has no direct relationship with the performance of listed companies.
He further explained that some shareholding reductions or divorces will cause stock prices to fluctuate significantly . The reason behind this is that stock prices deviate from the upper limit of the normal value range . Therefore, whether it is divorce or shareholding reductions, they are all irrational by ordinary investors. The drive to obtain excess returns comes only after pushing up the stock price.
Source: pexels
In addition, a typical case of divorce holding reduction last year was the divorce of Zhang Feng, the former chairman of Huitian New Materials. After transferring about 477 million yuan of equity to his ex-wife, he was arrested on suspicion of manipulating the securities market. Immediately afterwards His ex-wife Yang Lianhua reduced her holdings of 11.089 million shares in six times and successfully cashed out over 100 million yuan.
Therefore, in order to prevent shareholders from "detouring shareholding reduction" through divorce, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has publicly stated that major shareholders, directors, supervisors and senior executives of listed companies, as the "key minority", are not allowed to circumvent restrictions on shareholding reduction through divorce, dissolution, liquidation, separation, etc. , all parties shall jointly abide by the relevant regulations on share reduction.
What do you think of the actual controller or major shareholder of a listed company divorcing and reducing their holdings? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion.
