Private firms club together

Leading private firms have formed an investment vehicle that should help mainland companies secure funding from alternative sources and aid corporate restructuring. A group of 52 enterprises launched Guang-Tsai 49 Holdings at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The group will help recapitalize and restructure private companies that run into trouble by pumping in funds from member firms or that raised from the capital markets. Guang-Tsai 49 plans to set up a fund management and investment banking subsidiary in Hong Kong, then help firms list there in an effort to recoup its outlay. The group will also help its shareholders consolidate by buying up struggling rivals and state-owned enterprises.