Deals: Julius Baer, Sina To Invest $22.9M In Wealth Manager Jupai

By Li Dongmei for China Money Network

Swiss private banking firm Julius Baer Group Ltd. and have agreed to invest US$22.9 million in total in Shanghai-based wealth management firm Jupai Holdings Ltd., according to an announcement.

Subsidiaries of Julius Baer and Sina will each subscribe to 9.59 million and 2.88 million ordinary shares of Jupai at US$1.83 per share, which means they will each invest US$17.5 million and US$5.3 million, respectively.

After the expected completion of the share subscription in January 2016, Julius Baer will hold 4.99% of Jupai, while Sina will own 11.53% as it previously held a stake of around 10%.

“We expect the cooperation between our two companies (Julius Baer and Jupai) will further diversify Jupai’s product categories and add more overseas financial products…allowing us to better meet the demand for overseas asset allocation among Jupai’s clients,” says Ni Jianda, Jupai’s chief executive.

In July, Jupai raised US$53 million via an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange at US$10 per American Depositary Share (ADS), which represented six ordinary shares.

In 2013, Chinese real estate services firm E-House (China) Holdings Limited invested an undisclosed amount in Jupai. Earlier this year, E-House said that it was injecting its asset management business unit into Jupai, in which E-House owned a 33% stake.

Chinese Internet firm Sina Corp held an 11% stake in Jupai at the time of its IPO. Zero2 IPO Group also invested in the company, says Jupai’s website, but its stake was not disclosed in its filings.

Founded in 2010, Jupai provides wealth management services to high-net-worth-individuals, enterprises and institutional investors in China.

Its products include real estate investment funds, sunshine private equity funds, fixed income funds, among others, according to its website.