Huang Guangyu, the jailed billionaire founder of Gome, a Chinese purveyor of white goods, takes control of the Chinese electronics retailer in a $1.5bn deal , allegedly negotiated from his prison cell. Under the terms of the transaction, Huange will sell Artway, another electronic retailer to Gome in a cash and shares offer that will take his stake in Gome from 33 to 50.5 per cent. Huang, also known as Wong Kwong-yu his Cantonese name, has conducted his business since 2010, when he was handed a 14-year sentence for bribery and insider dealing. Haung’s prison cell has access to luxuries including television. Gomes shares fell 13 per cent to HK $ 1.27. The deal requires independent shareholder approval, has HK$2.2bn in cash,HK $ 8.6bn in new shares priced at HK $1.39 and warrants exercisable inot 2.5bn new shares at HK$2.15.
Artway owns 578 shops.
Haung is not the only billionaire behind bars, on 26 February 2014, the Supreme Court of India ordered the arrest of Subrata Roy, the founder and chairman of the Sahara India ( the second largest employer in India after the Indian Railways), an Indian conglomerate with diversified businesses and ownership include London’s prestigious Grosvenor House, New York’s Plaza Hotel, Aamby Valley City and Force India, in a dispute with market regulator, for failing to appear before it in connection with the £24,000 crore deposits his company has not refunded to investors, and on 28th February 2014 Uttar Pradesh police arrested and he has been in custody in the Tihar jail Delhi since 4th March 2014, as his bail plea was rejected by Supreme court of India. His company Sahara allowed to sell a part of its assets in India to raise part of the money to raise Rs 10,000 crore which has not been made todate and Roy is still in jail. Roy who joined in 1978 Sahara finance a struggling company that ran a chit fund. Sahara is said have 29.6million investors representing 8.5 percent of all households in India. Securities and Exchange Board of India cancels Sahara’s mutual fund licence saying not fit to carry out business, and also slapped a £41.5 crores invoice to Sahara for examining 127 truck loads of documents.
