(Yicai) Oct. 9 -- Shanshan Corp., a leading Chinese supplier of lithium battery anode materials, is being acquired by a consortium led by shipping magnate Ren Yuanlin, after a court ordered its debt-laden parent firm Shanshan Group into asset restructuring.

The investment group will pay CNY3.2 billion (USD450 million) to take a majority stake of 23.3 percent equity in Shanshan and Ren will become the new actual controller of the Shanghai-based firm, according to a recent update by Shanshan on the asset restructuring.

Jiangsu Xinyangzi Trading, a company controlled by Ren, and other investors have signed a restructuring investment agreement with Shanshan Group and the court-appointed asset restructuring manager, Shanshan said.

Shanshan Group has been in difficulties since the company’s actual controller passed away unexpectedly in early 2023. The death triggered family financial disputes and led to debt defaults. The firm was ordered by a court to go into asset restructuring in March.

Other investors in the reorganization include an industrial investment fund under home appliance and display panel giant TCL and the Shenzhen branch of China Orient Asset Management, it said. The voting rights from the shares they acquire will be managed collectively through an investment platform.

This marks Ren’s first foray into the lithium battery anode material and polarizer film industries. Shanshan is the world’s biggest supplier of lithium battery anode materials with a 21 percent share of the market. It is also a leading supplier of display panel polarizing film, and holds over 30 percent of the global market.

Ren is a prominent figure in China’s private shipbuilding industry and now serves as honorary chairman of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, which was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2007. His firm Xinyangzi Trading is a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Financial Holding, which was spun off from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group to go public.

The news about the change in ownership did not have a major impact on the company’s stock price today. Shanshan’s share price [SHA:600884] closed down 2 percent at CNY15.57 (USD2.18). Earlier in the day it climbed 5.8 percent to hit CNY16.80.

Editor: Kim Taylor