JPMorgan May Become First Overseas Firm With Majority Stake in China Fund
Zhang Yuanke
DATE:  May 08 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
JPMorgan May Become First Overseas Firm With Majority Stake in China Fund JPMorgan May Become First Overseas Firm With Majority Stake in China Fund

(Yicai Global) May 8 -- JPMorgan Asset Management could become the first foreign company to take control of its Chinese mutual fund joint venture after its partner approved plans to divest a key stake.

Shanghai International Trust has given the green light to sell 2 percent of China International Fund Management, the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange said yesterday. The exchange did not confirm conditions set for any potential deal, though JPMorgan is highly likely to be the buyer, according to one insider.

New York-based JPMorgan would increase its stake in the JV to 51 percent if a deal were struck, while SIT's share would fall to 49 percent. Chinese regulators changed the rules last April to allow foreign players to take a 51 percent stake in their Chinese fund management units. 

JPMorgan Asset Management did not comment when Yicai Global contacted it for details on any possible equity transfer. 

Its parent company JPMorgan confirmed the month after the rules changed that it was in talks with SIT and regulators on raising its stake. The firm also applied to set up a new equity company in which it would hold 51 percent, with the aims of gaining full ownership over several years, if allowed.

Set up in 2014 with registered capital of CNY250 million (USD36.9 million), Shanghai-based China International Fund Management's total assets stood at CNY2.2 billion (USD324.6 million) in February. Its asset management size was CNY124.2 billion as of March, ranking it 30th among 134 Chinese peers, according to local data provider East Money Information.

Editor: Liao Shumin, William Clegg

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Keywords:   JPMorgan Asset Management,Shanghai Trust