After losing control of Suning.com, Zhang Jindong gradually moved from the front stage to behind the scenes.
Suning.com issued an announcement on the evening of July 12 that Zhang Jindong proposed to the board of directors to resign from the company’s chairman, director and chairman of the board’s strategy committee on July 12. The company’s board of directors unanimously agreed to appoint Zhang Jindong as the company’s honorary chairman.
At the same time, Zhang Jindong nominated his son Steven Zhang Kangyang as a candidate for non-independent director of the company’s seventh board of directors. The sixteenth meeting of the company’s seventh board of directors has been deliberated and approved and still needs to be reviewed by the shareholders’ meeting.
Zhang Jindong resigned as chairman of Suning.com
On the evening of July 12, Suning.com announced that director Zhang Jindong proposed to the board of directors to resign as chairman of the company, director and chairman of the board strategy committee on July 12; director Sun Weimin proposed to the board of directors to resign as deputy director of the company on July 12 Directors and directors served. Director Meng Xiangsheng proposed to the board of directors to resign as directors of the company. At the same time, Sun Weimin and Meng Xiangsheng resigned from the positions of members of the strategy committee of the board of directors, the nomination committee of the board, the audit committee of the board, and the compensation and assessment committee of the board.
According to the announcement, shareholder Zhang Jindong nominated Zhang Kangyang as a non-independent director candidate for the company’s seventh board of directors. Zhang Kangyang was born in 1991, bachelor’s degree, is the son of Zhang Jindong. Zhang Kangyang graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. He was an analyst in the Capital Markets Department of Morgan Stanley. He joined Suning in March 2016 and served as the President of the Suning International Business Development Center, a director of the European Football Club Association, and the European Football Association League. Member of the athletics group, currently the chairman of the Italian Inter Milan Football Club and the director of Japan’s LAOX Co., Ltd.
Suning.com stated that in order to ensure the normal progress of the work of the company’s board of directors, the company’s shareholder Zhang Jindong, shareholder Taobao (China) Software Co., Ltd. and shareholder Xinxin Retail Fund Phase II were nominated and approved by the 16th meeting of the company’s seventh board of directors. Huang Mingduan, Xian Handi, Cao Qun and Zhang Kangyang are candidates for non-independent directors of the seventh board of directors of the company.
Suning.com also stated that due to Zhang Jindong and Sun Weimin’s resignation as chairman and vice chairman, the company’s directors unanimously elected Ren Jun to perform the chairmanship until the company completes the election of a new chairman.
Zhang Jindong is the founder of Suning.com. Under his leadership, Suning.com has become one of the leading commercial retail companies in China. Suning.com announced that the board of directors unanimously agreed to appoint Zhang Jindong as the company’s honorary chairman. Zhang Jindong will continue to use his years of experience and ability accumulated in the development of the retail industry to provide valuable opinions and suggestions for the company’s medium and long-term strategic development, and to guide the company in terms of management reform and promotion of corporate culture inheritance.
Suning.com is in a state of no actual controller
On the evening of July 5, Suning.com announced that Zhang Jindong, the controlling shareholder and actual controller of the company, and Suning Holdings Group, the company’s shareholders holding more than 5% of the shares, Suning Appliance Group, and Tibet Trust (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “transferor”) plan to transfer 16.96% of the total share capital of the listed company to the second phase of the Xinxin Retail Fund.
According to the announcement, the second phase of the Xinxin Retail Fund is jointly participated by the state-owned assets of Jiangsu Province and Nanjing City, following the principles of marketization and legalization, fulfilling territorial responsibilities, and actively supporting the steady and healthy development of Suning.com.
Suning.com stated that the share transfer is conducive to the company’s further integration of high-quality assets and high-quality business, and the realization of resource complementarity and win-win cooperation with state-owned capital and industrial capital. Among them, the participation of state-owned assets will lay a solid foundation for the stable and healthy development of Suning.com. Alibaba, Haier, Midea, TCL, Xiaomi and other industry investors will play a close synergy with Suning.com in terms of users, technology, services, and supply, and continue to deepen cooperation in areas such as chain, warehousing and logistics.
Suning.com stated that, with the exception of Zhang Jindong and Suning Holding Group acting in concert, there is no concerted action arrangement for the above-mentioned shareholders holding more than 5% of the shares after the completion of the share transfer; after the share transfer, no shareholder of the company can independently control the general meeting of shareholders and the board of directors. Therefore, after the share transfer, the company will be in a state of no controlling shareholder and no actual controller.
At noon on July 12, Suning.com announced that the transfer of all shares involved in the transfer of shares had been completed recently.