A conglomerate backed by the Hubei provincial government took control of Shanghai-traded brokerage TF Securities in a flurry of transactions, reports Nikkei Asia. TF Securities disclosed in a Saturday filing that Hongtai Group, a financial holding company wholly owned by the Hubei government, became its controlling shareholder. Together with Wuhan Commerce and Trade Group, a party acting in concert, Hongtai controls 22.62% of TF Securities, according to the filing.
Private investors have largely exited from TF Securities. The company long maintained a dispersed shareholding structure. It grew rapidly around 2018, rising from a small regional brokerage to a major player with a full range of securities services. When it debuted on the Shanghai stock market in 2018, it ranked 27th among China’s 41 publicly traded securities companies in terms of net profit.
But TF Securities’ business slid in recent years amid regulatory headwinds and a changing market environment. In the first half of 2022, the company’s net profit plummeted 84.3% from a year earlier to RMB 52 million ($7.2 million).
