(Yicai Global) June 1 -- China's Ping An Insurance Group will participate in a private placement of shares by a listed business for the second time this year.

Ping An Asset Management will be the sole participant in the third-party allocation by China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings, the Shenzhen-based target firm said in a statement yesterday. The company, an industrial park developer and cruise terminal operator, did not provide any other details.

In their search for long-term returns China’s insurers have been eager in recent years to take part in the private placements of publicly traded companies, usually at a discount. In March, Ping An Asset Management boosted its stake in Hubei province-based adhesive maker Huitian New Materials, subscribing as much as CNY50 million (USD7 million) in cash in a third-party allocation of shares.

China Merchants Shekou will use the funds to buy a 24 percent stake in Shenzhen Nanyou Group Holdings to gain full ownership, the firm said. That should help it increase its stake in southeastern China's Qianhai Bay Free Trade Port Zone, owned in part by Nanyou, it added.

China Merchants Shekou's shares [SHE: 001979] were suspended on May 29 at CNY16.03 (USD2.25), 1 percent lower, with a market cap of CNY127 billion (USD17.8 billion). In May, the company's stock price declined by nearly 6.4 percent.

Editors: Emmi Laine, Dou Shicong