The Guotai Junan International privatisation offer, announced on Friday, puts a HK$28.6 billion (roughly $3.6 billion) price tag on one of Hong Kong’s most closely watched brokerages, at a 44.2% premium to the last traded price before the stock was suspended.
Parent company Guotai Haitong Securities is offering HK$3.00 per share in cash. Together with parties acting in concert, it already controls about 66% of the shares. The remaining minority would be cancelled under a scheme of arrangement (a court-supervised process used to delist companies) and the stock would leave the Hong Kong exchange.
The offer price is 46.5% above the 30-day average close and 37.7% above the 60-day average, and sits at roughly 1.8 times the unit’s audited net asset value for 2025, according to the joint announcement by the two companies.
What the Guotai Junan International Privatisation Means for the Crypto Licence
The timing matters because of what sits inside this business. Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) had its securities licence upgraded by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on June 24, 2025. That upgrade extended its Type 1 (dealing in securities) authorisation to cover eight virtual assets: bitcoin, ether, Tether (USDT), Avalanche (AVAX), Chainlink (LINK), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP) and USD Coin (USDC). XRP, USDT and USDC are restricted to clients with Professional Investor status.
The firm launched its virtual assets trading service for Hong Kong investors on August 28, 2025, executing and settling orders through SFC-licensed platforms, with Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) acting as the client’s agent. It holds SFC CE Number ABY236 and is also licensed for Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities.
If the privatisation completes, that licence does not automatically disappear, but Guotai Haitong has not said publicly what it intends to do with the virtual-asset permissions once the subsidiary stops reporting separately. The business will fold into a parent listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges, and its results will no longer be broken out.
A Business That Rebounded Hard Before the Bid
Guotai Junan International reported earnings per share of HK$0.141 for full-year 2025, up from HK$0.036 the prior year, according to RTTNews. Net profit rose 287% to HK$1.35 billion, and revenue climbed 41% to HK$6.23 billion, with return on equity recovering to 8.7% from 2.3% a year earlier.
The detail behind those numbers is equally strong. Assets under management grew 49% year-on-year, with asset management revenue more than doubling. Structured notes and over-the-counter options commissions both surged by over 100%. The group participated in the issuance of 294 offshore bonds with a total issuance size of approximately HKD 522.1 billion, a 34% increase on the prior year.
The company also proposed a final dividend of HK$0.02 per share for fiscal year 2025. For shareholders who bought in the market, that dividend is now moot: at HK$3.00 per share the offer represents the exit price, not an income stream.
This bid follows an earlier step in the corporate structure. In October 2024, Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities published a joint announcement on a proposed merger by absorption and share exchange, at which point Guotai Junan Securities held approximately 73.81% of Guotai Junan International. The stake has since reduced to the approximately 66% that now forms the bidding block.
The Regulatory Backdrop Complicating the Broader Sector
The privatisation lands in a complicated moment for Hong Kong’s brokerage industry. The China Securities Regulatory Commission fined Futu Holdings and UP Fintech (parent of Tiger Brokers), naming Longbridge Securities on 22 May, in penalties totalling about $331 million across the two firms that disclosed figures. Futu’s share was about $271 million. Under a State Council-approved eight-agency plan, existing mainland clients of those brokers may only sell positions and withdraw funds during a two-year transition.
Guotai Junan International is not untouched by that campaign. Its Hong Kong securities unit issued a notice suspending mainland client accounts in 2023, then removed it from public view. The privatisation announcement does not mention that episode. Guotai Haitong said instead that full ownership would let it invest for the long term, “free from the pressures of rapidly changing market conditions.”
Hong Kong’s virtual-asset regime is also still being built out. The Financial Services and Treasury Bureau and the SFC jointly published consultation papers on June 27, 2025, proposing to extend licensing to over-the-counter dealing in virtual assets and custody services, with a Virtual Asset Licensing Bill expected later this year. Hong Kong now counts 12 licensed virtual-asset trading platforms, with the SFC clearing them in batches after inspections.
For minority shareholders in Guotai Junan International, the question is straightforward: the offer is pitched at 1.8 times book for a business that turned HK$1.35 billion in net profit last year. Whether the scheme passes depends on enough of the remaining 34% voting in favour. How the crypto licence is treated once those votes are counted is the detail Guotai Haitong has yet to address.
