China's state-owned petroleum and petrochemical company Sinopec Group has agreed to acquire a 10.98% stakes in Jiuzhou Securities, the securities unit of Chinese local private equity player JD Group, for RMB407 million (US$59 million), according to a disclosure filing.
After the completion of the transaction, Sinopec Group will become the second largest shareholder following parent JD Capital, whose stake will be reduced to 85.76% from 96.34% previously.
JD Capital has turned Jiuzhou Securities from a sleepy brokerage firm to a significant player with current valuation of around RMB3.7 billion (US$541 million). With Sinopec's capital injection, JD plans to utilize Jiuzhou Securities as another platform to expand private equity investments, it said.
Jiuzhou Securities currently has over 40 offices in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. It has an investment subsidiary Jiuzhou Investment, a futures subsidiary Jiuzhou Futures, an alternative investment subsidiary Jiuzhou Capital, and a financial service subsidiary JY Fund Admin.
Jiuzhou Securities was reportedly planning an initial public offering on the New Third Board, according to media reports last summer. Sinopec will continue to support Jiuzhou Securities' future growth as needed, JD Capital said.