Introduction:
March 14, 2019 – Acting as Sole placing agent, First Capital Securities Limited (“First Capital Securities”), which operates under the umbrella of First Capital International Finance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of China First Capital Group Limited (the “Group”, Stock Code: 1269), recently assisted Ernest Borel Holdings Limited (“Ernest Borel”, Stock Code: 1856) in completing the placement of shares.
Within a short period of time, First Capital Securities assisted Ernest Borel’s major shareholders in placing to several independent third parties an aggregate of 25,500,000 shares¸ amounting to over HK$ 44 million and representing 25% of the issued share capital held by the public. This helped restore the public float of Ernest Borel in compliance with the ‘Listing Rules’, thus satisfied the requirement for resumption of trading’s application to The Stock Exchange. During the placement and restoration proceedings, First Capital International Finance Limited, a Type 6 subsidiary of the Group, provided financial advisory services as defined in the ‘Listing Rules’ for Ernest Borel, and assisted them in answering questions raised by HKEx, thus guaranteeing a smooth placement and restoration.
On March 18, 2019, HKEx published announcements and notices related to Ernest Borel’s resumption of trading after an interval of six months on its website.
Listed Companies Information
Exchange Notice - Resumption of Trading
Trading in the shares (stock code: 01856) of Ernest Borel Holdings Limited will resume at 9:00 a.m. today (18/3/2019).
Pursuing an ‘Education Operation and Financial Services’ dual-pronged strategy, the Group integrates domestic and overseas resources to provide corporate clients with a range of financial services, of which its IPO underwriting is highly respected in the industry. In 2018, the Group acted as IPO underwriter for 12 corporate clients, comprising seven in the education sector, including China Xinhua Education Group Limited, Top Education Group Ltd., BExcellent Group Holdings Limited, China 21st Century Education Group Limited, Bojun Education Company Limited, Hope Education Group Co., Ltd. and China Chunlai Education Group Co., Ltd. Five firms were in the non-education sector, including Sichuan Energy Investment Development Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Cangnan Instrument Group Company Limited, DaFa Properties Group Limited, Kinergy Corporation Ltd. and Shanshan Brand Management Co., Ltd.. En route to reinventing itself as a boutique investment bank, the Group is actively engaged in business diversification, branching out into services areas such as the issuance of shares and convertible bonds, and financial advisory assistance during pre-listing, trade resumption, restructuring and acquisitions.
The placement of shares accurately reflects First Capital Securities’ enhanced overall capabilities, and is also definitive proof of their reputation for creativity, incisive action, and providing real solutions by making effective use of its finance control platform to achieve optimal deployment of resources.
The recently released ‘Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’ suggests three key areas of financial development for the Greater Bay Area: building an international financial hub, carving out a great number of financial industry niches, and integrating different financial markets in an orderly manner. The ‘Outline Development Plan’ also suggests boosting the volume of cross-border investment between Hong Kong and mainland China by maximising the ease of mutual market access. Improved cross-border investment channels are intended to facilitate cross-border brokerage businesses in wealth management and asset management. By leveraging channels such as the – ‘Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect’, ‘Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect’ and ‘Bond Connect’, this coupled with a bullish market will ensure an even further pick-up in cross-border brokerage business operations.
To seize new opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area, First Capital Securities will anchor its business operations in the international financial hub of Hong Kong, providing a strong base for its diversification strategy. By providing a wide variety of services and products, First Capital Securities vows to help Hong Kong’s integration with mainland China and achieve professional resources synergy between the two areas.
