Former Trust Firm of Failed Tomorrow Holding Up For Sale Again at a Discount

New Times Trust Co. Ltd. is once again on the market after previous attempts to attract investors and buyers have failed [para. 1]. All 6 billion shares of the company, now held by four different shareholders, are available for purchase with a starting bid of 1.85 billion yuan ($260.4 million). This price is approximately 20% lower than the initial starting price set in September 2022 when the shares were first offered [para. 2].

The firm was one of numerous financial entities employed by Chinese-Canadian tycoon Xiao Jianhua to fund the debt-fueled growth of his conglomerate, Tomorrow Holding. In the 2010s, New Times Trust, based in Inner Mongolia, sold various trust products, and the proceeds primarily financed companies linked to Tomorrow Holding [para. 3].

Founded in 1999, Tomorrow Holding gained control over numerous financial institutions through intricate and often opaque shareholding structures. The conglomerate subsequently branched into a broad spectrum of industries, including coal and real estate. Tomorrow Holding eventually became a prominent target in Beijing's crackdown on financial risks [para. 4].

Xiao Jianhua was placed under investigation in 2017. Following the investigation, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for multiple crimes, including illegal deposit-taking, misuse of bank clients' funds, illegal use of insurance funds, and bribery [para. 5]. In 2020, to mitigate the financial risks posed by his network of companies, regulators seized nine of Xiao's financial firms, New Times Trust included. This regulatory takeover concluded in July 2022 [para. 5].

In September 2021, New Times Trust announced a plan to find new investors as part of an equity restructuring effort. However, no progress has been made since then [para. 6]. A year later, the company's shares were listed for sale on the China Beijing Equity Exchange, but no deal has been finalized [para. 7].

According to the company's 2019 annual report, which is the most recent one available, New Times Trust had total assets amounting to 9.4 billion yuan by the end of that year. Additionally, the firm managed trust assets worth 322.4 billion yuan [para. 8].

[para. 1]