Guotai Haitong plans to take Guotai Junan International private at HK$3 per share through a scheme of arrangement, valuing the transaction at about HK$7.5 billion for the shares it does not already own and setting up the delisting of the Hong Kong-listed brokerage subsidiary if approvals are secured. Guotai Haitong Financial Holdings Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary making the offer, held about 73.92% of Guotai Junan International as of the announcement date, or 7.044 billion shares, leaving roughly 2.486 billion shares to be acquired out of total issued share capital of 9.53 billion shares. The offeror said it has secured all cash required for the privatization through external financing. The HK$3 cash offer represents a 44.02% premium to Guotai Junan International's HK$2.08 closing price before trading was suspended on July 22, as well as premiums of 46.5% and 37.7% to the average closing prices over the prior 30 and 90 trading days. It also stands about 80.3% above audited consolidated net asset value attributable to shareholders of HK$1.66 per share as of December 31, 2025, implying a 2025 price-to-book ratio of 1.8 times versus a median 0.51 times for comparable Hong Kong-listed securities firms. The move comes despite record 2025 results at Guotai Junan International, which posted revenue of HK$6.23 billion, up 41% year on year, and post-tax profit of HK$1.345 billion, up 287%. Guotai Haitong said bringing the business fully in-house would allow direct decision-making on strategy, resource allocation and major matters, improve management efficiency, strengthen capital management and support cross-border coordination. The deal also fits a broader post-merger restructuring after the former Guotai Junan Securities and the former Haitong Securities combined, leaving the group with two Hong Kong brokerage platforms after Haitong International was privatized and delisted in January 2024. The proposal still requires approvals from Chinese authorities, shareholder approval and Hong Kong court procedures, with trading in Guotai Junan International shares set to resume on August 10.