After 30 years leading real estate giant, Wang Shi could lose control
For almost three decades, China Vanke Co's chairman and founder Wang Shi, a magnate in the real estate industry, has been well known for leading a company with transparent corporate governance and professional management system. But that all changed when insurer Baoneng Group emerged with a takeover bid. It remains unclear how the high-profile power struggle will end, but it is almost certain that Wang will no longer be in charge, regardless who ends up in control of Vanke.
Following a six-month trading suspension, shares of Shenzhen-listed China Vanke Co, the country's largest real estate developer by market value, are set to resume trading on Monday, the company said in a filing it sent to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late Friday.
The resumption marked the latest development of the Game of Thrones-style battle for control of Vanke, which has been fraught with drama.
To counter a hostile takeover bid by Baoneng Group, Vanke, under the leadership of its chairman and founder Wang Shi, announced a 45.6-billion- yuan ($6.9 billion) deal that would have made the State-owned Shenzhen Metro its largest shareholder, diluting Baoneng's stake and undermining its takeover attempt.
However, both Baoneng and Vanke's second-largest shareholder, China Resources, opposed the deal, leaving it almost certain to fail.
Vanke received a requisition notice from two units of Baoneng on June 24, demanding an extraordinary general meeting to dismiss Wang and almost all board members.
At Vanke's shareholders' meeting on June 27, Wang apologized for his inappropriate words about Yao Zhenhua, Baoneng's chairman. He also promised to resign if Yu Liang, president of Vanke, could take his place.
On Thursday, the China Resources said on social media that it would not support Baoneng in its proposal to oust the board, adding to the uncertainty over whether Wang would leave the company he founded.
Wang, one of the most well-known figures in China's real estate industry over the last three decades, has been widely recognized and respected for Vanke's transparent corporate governance, nonintervention of major shareholders and professional management system.
However, although the drama is not yet over, it seems almost certain that Wang will no longer have the final say at Vanke, regardless who ends up in control of the company.
In the limelight
The 65-year-old tycoon is no stranger to the limelight.
In the 1980s, Wang made his first bucket of gold by trading corn in Shenzhen.
Although Wang told people on several occasions how he made 3 million yuan in just eight months, some media reports later suggested that his family connections may have helped.
At time, Wang was married to the daughter of a deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of Communist Party of China.
The marriage lasted until October 2012 when news broke that Wang had divorced his wife for another woman - Tian Pujun, an actress 30 years younger than him.
The high-profile affair was controversial enough and a shareholder expressed concern at last week's shareholders' meeting that it might have driven Wang to distraction.
But Wang just responded: "You are just jealous, aren't you?"
In 1984, Wang founded Vanke's predecessor - the Shenzhen Exhibition Center for Modern Science and Education Equipment, which was established as a State-owned enterprise.
In 1991, Vanke became the second company to get listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
With the development of China's real estate sector, Wang's fame reached its height when he made a report in person to former premier Zhu Rongji in Shenzhen in 1997.
He described the meeting in his book The Road and the Dream. After answering several questions, Zhu said, "You are such a real estate expert. I would like to hire you as my real estate consultant, but with no pay."
"My face flushed and I stammered, 'I don't need salary. I'm so honored,'" Wang wrote.
