Abstract: Witnessing a historic moment in the securities industry, Guotai Junan announced late on September 5th that the company is planning to merge with Haitong Securities through an exchange of shares. Guotai Junan will issue A-shares to all A-share shareholders of Haitong Securities and H-shares to all H-share shareholders, thereby absorbing Haitong Securities and raising additional funds through the issuance of A-shares.
Trading of the company’s stocks will be suspended starting from the opening of the market on September 6th, with an expected suspension period not exceeding 25 trading days. Haitong Securities has also released a similar announcement. A simple calculation of some key business indicators from the mid-year reports of the two securities firms reveals that after the merger, the total assets and net asset scale will surpass CITIC Securities, making them the industry leader.