(Aug 13): Guotai Haitong Securities Co is studying options to combine its international units after announcing plans to take one of its Hong Kong-listed businesses private last week. 

Having made an offer for Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd, China’s biggest brokerage by assets is considering a similar deal for another unit, Haitong UniTrust International Financial Leasing Co, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. 

Delisting and making the businesses wholly owned should make it easier for Guotai Haitong to integrate overlapping offshore divisions into one listed entity, the people said. It would also align with China’s efforts to consolidate the country’s securities industry to better compete with Wall Street giants and international firms. Last year’s merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, which created Guotai Haitong, was a key milestone in the process. 

Shanghai-based Haitong UniTrust is primarily involved in financial leasing, buying physical assets and lending them out to a range of industries. It listed in Hong Kong in 2019 and had a market value of HK$6.5 billion (US$830 million or RM3.4 billion) as of earlier Thursday. That rose to HK$6.8 billion later in the day as the shares jumped as much as 5.7% on news of the buyout considerations.   

Deliberations are at an early stage, the people said. Representatives of Guotai Haitong and Haitong UniTrust didn’t respond to requests for comments. 

Guotai Haitong announced its offer for Guotai Junan International — its flagship offshore-listed vehicle — on Aug 7, with a proposal of HK$3 per share, a 44% premium to the stock’s previous close on July 22. While the shares surged after the offer, they are still way off a July 2025 peak that came as the company got regulatory approval to provide cryptocurrency trading services in Hong Kong. 

Despite the licence and the investor enthusiasm that followed, Guotai Junan International is unlikely to become a stablecoin issuer because of China’s restrictions on mainland-affiliated financial firms and cryptocurrency, the people said. Hong Kong granted its first stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC Holdings plc and a Standard Chartered plc joint venture earlier this year. 

Guotai Junan International’s businesses include brokerage and wealth management services, corporate finance, asset management, and loans and financing. 

Haitong Securities took another Hong Kong-listed unit, the loss-making Haitong International Securities Group Ltd, private in 2023 prior to the merger with Guotai Junan Securities. 

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee