King & Wood Mallesons advises CITIC Securities on the unconditional approval of its acquisition of Guangzhou Securities

On 30 October 2019, CITIC Securities Company Limited ("CITIC Securities", 600030. SH) acquiring a 100% equity of Guangzhou Securities Co., Ltd. ("Guangzhou Securities") by selling shares to Guangzhou Yuexiu Financial Holdings Group Co., Ltd. ("Yuexiu Financial Holdings", 000987. Shenzhen) and its wholly-owned subsidiary is unconditionally approved by the Merger, Acquisition and Reorganization Examination Committee of Listed Companies of China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC").

CITIC Securities, one of the first comprehensive securities companies approved by CSRC and also the largest Chinese securities company, is in a leading market position in business sectors including investment banking, brokerage, asset management and financing and securitization. Guangzhou Securities, 100% held by Yuexiu Financial Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiary, is a comprehensive securities company that has long been rooted in Guangdong and does business across the nation.

The deal, involving asset restructuring of two listed companies in SSE and SZSE, is another acquisition of a securities company made by CITIC Securities since 2003, after buying Univest Securities, China Securities, Jintong Securities and CLSA. The closely-watched deal will help CITIC Securities seize the historical opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area Plan to strengthen its core competitiveness in South China. Innovatively, the acquisition will shed some light on the future market acquisitions in the industry.

As the legal counsel for CITIC Securities, KWM has provided an all-round legal service for the deal, helping it successfully pass the CSRC review unconditionally.

The project is led by partners Gao Yimin, Jia Diyan, Jiang Yifeng.