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Fosun's Guo to Step Back From Units to Focus on Group Strategy

Fosun's Guo to Step Back From Units to Focus on Group Strategy

(Bloomberg) -- Fosun International Ltd. Chairman Guo Guangchang said he plans to step back his role at group units to focus on mapping out strategy at the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate.

Chief Executive Officer Wang Qunbin will also "rearrange" his position at Fosun’s subsidiaries, Guo, 50, said in a post Monday on his Weixin social media account. The openings at the units will pave the way for younger and more globalized executives to move up, he said.

Billionaire Guo played down the idea that the move is a precursor to a broader pullback from management, saying he’ll stay on as chairman at the parent company, which owns assets ranging from Cirque du Soleil to Club Med. Guo’s perceived indispensability at the group among investors has been on display in recent years after a brief disappearance in 2015 and false speculation about his whereabouts in July triggered routs of Fosun-related securities.

On Friday, Fosun said that Guo will step down as chairman of group unit Shanghai Fosun High Technology Group Co. 

Shares of Fosun International, the group’s flagship company, rose as much as 2.1 percent on Tuesday after falling for two straight days.

To contact the reporter on this story: Prudence Ho in Hong Kong at pho83@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Lena Lee

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.