Legend Holdings, the parent of the world's No4 computer maker, Lenovo Group, will spend 10 billion yuan (HK$11.35 billion) over the next five years making direct equity investments in various industrial sectors, including clean energy and financial services.
The plan came to light after China Oceanwide Holding Group, a privately owned property-to-finance conglomerate, bought 29 per cent of the firm for 2.75 billion yuan from the asset management unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The deal cut the academy's stake to 35 per cent, although it remains Legend's single biggest stakeholder.
Legend also controls Legend Capital and Hony Capital, the two leading private equity investment firms operating on the mainland, with more than 7 billion yuan of funds combined currently under management. Hony focuses on pre-initial public offering projects and Legend Capital focuses on enterprises at an earlier stage of development.
Most of the planned new investment would be made through Legend Holdings' own equity investment unit.
With the new strategy and its corporate structure, Legend said in a statement it would now explore investment opportunities in companies in different stages. 'In addition, Legend Holdings, Legend Capital and Hony Capital can create healthy synergies in investment.'
Analysts said the move made sense.
