Valuation Shrinks by More Than Half? Yonghui Supermarket Responds to Sale of Small Loan Company Equity for 80 Million Yuan

Yonghui Supermarket (SH601933, stock price 4.03 RMB, market value 36.572 billion RMB) issued a notice on March 16, responding to the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s regulatory letter regarding the company’s asset sale matters.

Previously, Yonghui Supermarket transferred its remaining 28.095% stake in Yonghui Cloud Gold Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Cloud Gold Tech) to Shanghai Paihui Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter Paihui Tech) for 80 million RMB through an agreement.

The “Daily Economic News” reporter noted that the transaction price was significantly lower than Cloud Gold Tech’s historical valuation and book value, raising regulatory concerns about the reasonableness of the deal and whether it damages the interests of the listed company.

Looking back at Cloud Gold Tech’s development history, its valuation has experienced a dramatic “roller coaster.”

In December 2019, Yonghui Supermarket established a wholly owned subsidiary, Cloud Gold Tech, with an investment of 500 million RMB, to develop supply chain finance and serve its retail ecosystem. The main business of Cloud Gold Tech was small loans.

However, as the company’s strategic direction shifted, Yonghui Supermarket began gradually divesting this non-core asset.

In June 2024, Yonghui Supermarket sold a 65% controlling stake in Cloud Gold Tech to Paihui Tech for the first time. At that time, Cloud Gold Tech was performing strongly, with a net profit of 92.23 million RMB in 2023. The transaction price was about 378 million RMB, valuing 100% of the target company at approximately 581 million RMB.

In September 2025, Yonghui Supermarket further reduced its investment in non-core areas, selling an additional 6.905% stake in Cloud Gold Tech to Paihui Tech for about 41.45 million RMB, with an overall valuation of around 600 million RMB.

By January 2026, to fully exit the financial sector and accelerate asset turnover, Yonghui Supermarket decided to transfer the remaining 28.095% stake in Cloud Gold Tech to Paihui Tech. The transaction price was only 80 million RMB, with an overall valuation of about 285 million RMB.

In other words, compared to the previous sale (September 2025), this valuation shrank by over 50%.

Yonghui Supermarket stated that prior to this, on December 31, 2025, it initially listed the target equity for transfer on the Chongqing United Property Rights Exchange, with a minimum listing price not lower than the audited net asset value. Due to the failure to attract interested buyers, the company adjusted the listing price twice on January 12 and January 19, reducing it to 153 million RMB and then to 120 million RMB.

However, even after two significant price reductions, no other bidders offered a price.

In its reply, Yonghui Supermarket explained that this directly and objectively reflects that, under the current market environment, the liquidity value of the target equity is far below its book net asset value.

Ultimately, Yonghui Supermarket negotiated thoroughly with Paihui Tech and agreed on a transaction price of 80 million RMB.

One reason for the market’s lukewarm response may be that Cloud Gold Tech’s “self-sustaining” ability has severely declined.

Data shows that Cloud Gold Tech’s net profit plummeted from 92.23 million RMB in 2023 to 38.60 million RMB in 2024, and further dropped to 16.99 million RMB in 2025, a total decline of over 80% in two years.

In response to the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s inquiry about whether selling the remaining equity at a price significantly below book value and historical valuation is reasonable and fair, Yonghui Supermarket provided an explanation.

Yonghui Supermarket pointed out that the main reasons for the transaction price being far below book value and historical valuation are that the target asset faces three major insurmountable obstacles, leading to a fundamental devaluation of its market value.

The first obstacle is the uncertainty of related approval procedures. Changing more than 5% of local financial organization shares requires prior approval from local financial authorities.

“Due to the lengthy and uncertain administrative approval process, potential external buyers are less willing to bid, which limits the market competitiveness of this equity. Therefore, negotiations were conducted with the existing shareholder (Paihui Tech), which has already passed regulatory review,” Yonghui Supermarket explained.

The second obstacle stems from the nature of the minority stake, which significantly affects its intrinsic value. “As a minority shareholder, the company has limited influence over major operational decisions, resource allocation, and profit distribution of the target company. From a market-oriented investment perspective, third-party financial or industrial investors typically seek to acquire controlling stakes to achieve industry integration. The minority stake proposed for sale does not align with the core interests of mainstream investors,” Yonghui Supermarket said.

The third obstacle is the tightening of industry regulatory policies, which directly impacts the valuation expectations of the target company.

“As a licensed institution, Cloud Gold Tech faces policy-related impacts that have significantly changed its valuation basis compared to 2024. This is a key external factor explaining the sharp decline from the previous high valuation,” Yonghui Supermarket stated.

In summary, these “three obstacles” lead Yonghui Supermarket to conclude that Cloud Gold Tech’s historical valuation no longer has direct reference value, and its book net assets are unlikely to reflect the true realizable value of the equity.