The legendary Zhejiang businessman and SHANSHAN brand founder Zheng Yonggang passed away from a sudden heart attack two and a half years ago. Now, the company he founded is finally seeing light after a prolonged debt crisis, but this also means his family may officially relinquish control. The person taking over is another legendary figure - Ren Yuanlin, known as "China's private shipbuilding king."
On the evening of September 30, Ningbo Shanshan Co.,Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanshan," 600884.SH) announced that its controlling shareholder Shanshan Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanshan Group") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Ningbo Pengze Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Pengze Trading"), along with the Shanshan Group administrator (the administrator for the merged restructuring case of Shanshan Group and Pengze Trading appointed by the Yinzhou District People's Court of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, hereinafter referred to as "Administrator") have signed a "Restructuring Investment Agreement" with a consortium of restructuring investors including Jiangsu New Yangzi Commercial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "New Yangzi Commercial"), Jiangsu New Yangchuan Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "New Yangchuan"), Xiamen TCL Technology Industry Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "TCL Industrial Investment"), and China Orient Asset Management Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Branch (hereinafter referred to as "Orient Asset Management Shenzhen Branch").
According to the announcement, the restructuring investors plan to obtain control of 23.36% of Shanshan shares held by Shanshan Group and Pengze Trading through three methods: "direct acquisition + establishing partnership with service trust for acquisition + voting right delegation of remaining retained shares."
Shanshan stated that if the restructuring succeeds, the company's control will change hands, with the controlling shareholder becoming the investor holding platform, and the actual controller becoming Ren Yuanlin.
The restructuring plan shows that New Yangzi Commercial will lead and jointly establish a limited partnership with New Yangchuan as the investor holding platform to directly acquire 223,311,200 Shanshan shares, accounting for 9.93% of Shanshan's total share capital. New Yangzi Commercial should serve as the largest limited partner of the investor holding platform with a shareholding ratio of no less than 40%.
New Yangchuan will participate as a limited partner, responsible for continuing to recruit entities with appropriate financial strength and industry background for the investor holding platform, and transfer part or all of its limited partnership shares to them.
TCL Industrial Investment will directly acquire 43,700,900 Shanshan shares, accounting for 1.94% of Shanshan's total share capital, and delegate its voting rights to the holding platform.
Additionally, within 10 working days from the approval ruling date, the administrator should notify New Yangchuan in writing of the number of additional Shanshan shares that need to be acquired based on creditors' choices regarding compensation methods. New Yangchuan should designate an entity (including but not limited to the investor holding platform) to additionally acquire the shares as requested by the administrator.
After the court approves the restructuring plan, New Yangzi Commercial will jointly establish a limited partnership with a service trust to acquire 20,000,000 Shanshan shares, accounting for 0.89% of Shanshan's total share capital. Orient Asset Management Shenzhen Branch serves as the trust investor and the priority Class A beneficiary of the service trust. The voting rights of this portion of shares will also be delegated to the investor holding platform.
All voting rights of the remaining Shanshan shares held by the debtor will be delegated to the investor holding platform.
According to the above plan, restructuring investors will acquire a total of 287,012,100 shares (excluding additional acquisition target shares) through investor holding platform holdings, partnership holdings, and direct holdings, with a consideration of approximately 3.284 billion yuan.
The announcement shows that within thirty days from the signing of the "Restructuring Investment Agreement," the administrator should prepare a restructuring plan (draft) according to the agreed terms, conditions, and business plan. After written confirmation from New Yangzi Commercial, the administrator should submit it to the creditors' meeting for voting according to relevant provisions of the "Enterprise Bankruptcy Law," and apply for court approval after passage.
The announcement warns that after signing this restructuring investment agreement, the relevant restructuring plan (draft) still needs to be submitted to the creditors' meeting for voting, complete business concentration declaration, and obtain court approval. Given the uncertainties in creditors' meeting voting results, business concentration declaration, and court approval results, the signed "Restructuring Investment Agreement" may face risks of being dissolved or terminated due to triggering agreed conditions, and there may also be risks that restructuring investors cannot fulfill or timely fulfill relevant obligations as agreed. Whether Shanshan Group and Pengze Trading can successfully restructure remains uncertain.
It's worth noting that 72-year-old Ren Yuanlin is the founder of domestic private shipbuilding enterprise Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, known in the industry as "China's private shipbuilding king."
In 2007, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was listed in Singapore. Yangzijiang Financial Holdings was spun off from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's investment business division in 2021 and listed on the Singapore Exchange in April 2022. New Yangzi Commercial, as the main domestic investment platform under Yangzijiang Financial Holdings, has invested in 57 companies, involving metals, shipbuilding, chemicals, new energy and other industries.
The "Shanshan system" encountered continuous troubles shortly after founder Zheng Yonggang's death. First, the "wealthy family dispute" between his son Zheng Ju and widow Zhou Ting caused chaos, followed by an escalating capital chain crisis that ultimately plunged this former clothing giant and current lithium battery material leader into uncertainty over control changes.
On February 25, 2025, Yinzhou District Court of Ningbo City ruled to accept Shanshan Group's bankruptcy restructuring case. On March 20, the court ruled to conduct substantive merged restructuring of Shanshan Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pengze Trading. On June 6, the administrator issued a recruitment announcement for prospective investors.
Regarding the impact on Shanshan, the company's announcement mentioned that if the "Restructuring Investment Agreement" is approved and successfully executed, the company's control will change hands, with the controlling shareholder becoming the investor holding platform and the actual controller becoming Ren Yuanlin.
Shanshan stated that currently, the controlling shareholder has no non-operational fund occupation, irregular guarantees, or other situations that harm the listed company's interests. The company has independent and complete business and autonomous operational capabilities, maintaining independence from the controlling shareholder in assets, business, and finance. Currently, the company's production and operations are normal, and this matter has not caused significant substantial impact on the company's daily production and operations. The company will continue to work hard on various operational management tasks to ensure stable operations of the listed company.
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