Wanxiang chairman builds empire spanning various sectors
March 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Wanxiang chairman builds empire spanning various sectors
Staff Reporter
2014-03-10
Wanxiang Group founder and chairman Lu Guanqiu in Beijing, November 24, 2013. (Photo/Xinhua)
Wanxing Group, China’s leading auto parts maker, recently returned to the public spotlight in a high profile manner after finalizing an overseas deal in February, according to Guangzhou’s Time Weekly.
The Hangzhou-based Wanxiang won a bankruptcy auction for the assets of Fisker Automotive with US$149.2 million between Feb. 12-14. Fisker, a high-end hybrid sports car manufacturer, was established in 2007 in Los Angeles and filed for bankruptcy in November last year.
The Chinese firm acquired Fisker at a high price as the initial quoted price for the purchase of the assets was a sixth of the final deal. But this was a small price to pay, the paper said, as Wanxiang chairman Lu Guanqiu continues to pursue his goal of establishing his company into a substantial multinational firm and a car manufacturer.
Wanxiang previously purchased A123 Systems, the battery supplier for Fisker, in December 2012, which allowed the Hangzhou conglomerate to become a multinational new energy automobile company, along with its 12-year experience in manufacturing electric cars, the paper said.
But the purchase of Fisker’s assets is merely the tip of the iceberg. In addition to holding shares of companies from various industries, Wanxiang also owns a license for selling different kinds of financial products.
Lu, 70, has been an iconic figure in China since the 1980s, the paper said. He was elected as a representative of the 13th and 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1987 and 1992, and was elected as one of the members at the National People’s Congress between 1998 and 2013.
After Wanxiang went public in 1994, it bought shares of several listed companies. The company, whose empire was built from the auto parts business, is now a large multinational group that spans several sectors, including automobiles, energy, real estate, finance and agriculture.
The company is also a family-run business, with Lu’s son and daughters, as well as their partners taking part in the group’s operations across the country and overseas. Pin Ni, the husband of Lu’s youngest daughter, currently serves as the president of Wanxiang America and has completed over 30 international acquisitions including Fisker.
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