Photo: Guolian Aquatic Products Co.,ltd

Shares of Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co.,Ltd. submerged today

CHINA
Friday, March 22, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

Guolian Aquatic plummets as it ends planned partnership with Saudi Wealth Fund

Shares of Guolian Aquatic Products fell today after the Chinese seafood supplier said it will withdraw from a proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund that would have allowed it to receive up to $500 million in investments.

The share price of Guolian Aquatic [SHE:300094] was down 1.7 percent at CNY3.83 ($0.53) at 1 p.m. today. When the Zhanjiang-based company first announced the planned merger in June last year, its shares soared to the daily limit of 20 percent.

Guolian Aquatic and the Public Investment Fund, which is one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds with almost $600 billion in assets under management, agreed to terminate the Memorandum of Understanding, which was an amicable agreement of intent, signed in June last, the firm reported. Said yesterday. No further details were provided.

The termination will not adversely affect Guolian Aquatic's financial results, production and operations, it added.

Guolian Aquatic signed an agreement with the Asia Division of the Public Investment Fund last June to raise up to US$500 million through direct investment or financing to promote projects related to seafood trade, including trading platforms, exchanges, futures and acquisitions.

The Public Investment Fund would also extend a credit line of up to $60 million for Guolian Aquatic's global seafood procurement process at an annual interest rate of 3 percent and with a 20 percent haircut on income generated by the financing, he said at the time.

The Public Investment Fund has diversified into Chinese assets in recent years. In 2022 it set up an office in Hong Kong and will soon open one on the mainland, President Yasir Al-Rumayyan said last December.

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