HK Stock Market Move | Orient (03958) opens over 13% higher, plans to acquire 100% equity of Shanghai Securities, and aims to rank among the top ten in the industry in terms of total assets.

Orient (03958) opened more than 13% higher, as of the time of writing, it is up 13.53% at 6.88 Hong Kong dollars with a trading volume of 30.4112 million Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, on April 19, Orient announced that the company is planning to acquire 100% equity of Shanghai Securities Limited by issuing A shares and paying cash. Orient has signed "Letter of Intent" with each shareholder of Shanghai Securities Limited. Orient intends to acquire 50.0%, 18.7%, 16.3%, 7.7%, and 1.0% equity of Shanghai Securities Limited held by Bailean Group, Guotai Haitong, Shanghai International Group Investment, Shanghai International Group, and Shanghai Urban Investment Group respectively through the issuance of A shares, and intends to acquire 6.3% equity of Shanghai Securities Limited held by Guotai Haitong through cash payment. According to the agreement, the parties have reached a preliminary agreement on this transaction, and will further negotiate on the details such as the plan, price, etc. of this transaction. Founder believes that by the end of 2025, the total assets of Orient and Shanghai Securities will be 486.88 billion and 95.77 billion respectively. Static calculations show that after the merger, the total assets will reach 582.65 billion, ranking 10th in the industry. In terms of net assets, by the end of 2025, the net assets of Orient and Shanghai Securities will be 82.69 billion and 19.81 billion respectively. Static calculations show that the net assets after the merger will exceed one trillion, reaching 102.5 billion, ranking 11th in the industry. Huatai stated that the current brokerage sector has a "strong performance with stable expectations + low valuation position", showing strong cost-effectiveness in allocation; the company's mergers and acquisitions are expected to enhance advantages, strong performance growth expectations, and low valuation positions.