Great Wall's report on November 1st: realord group (01196.HK) announced that on November 1, 2024, the company entered into an agreement with Merrill Lynch Holdings. Under this agreement, the company conditionally agrees to sell, and Merrill Lynch Holdings conditionally agrees to acquire the shares (75% of the total number of issued Sincere shares held by the company on the date of the agreement) for 0.388 billion Hong Kong dollars, to be paid by Merrill Lynch Holdings through offsetting part of the shareholder loans owed by the company as an equal basis.
Sincere is a listed company on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, with its main business being the operation of department stores. Sincere has three non-wholly-owned subsidiaries, namely Sincere Life, Sincere Financial, and Sincere Cosmetics. These companies are all non-listed public companies, but they have no active operations or revenue. The department store business is the main source of income for the Sincere group.
Considering the continuous losses recorded by Sincere Group, as well as the unfavorable short-term prospects in the Hong Kong retail market, the board of directors believes that the poor performance of Sincere Group may continue to have a negative impact on the group's financial situation. In order to reduce the impact of market uncertainties on the department store business on the group, it is now proposed that the company divest from the investment in Sincere Group.