china auto rental holdings inc. (car), a company under the core assets operation of legend holdings corporation (legend holdings), held its ipo under the stock code 699 in hong kong at 9:30 am on september 19, 2014. on september 19, opening at hkd 8.5 per share, car became the first listed company in the car rental sector of china.
successes of legend holdings and legend capital
as a core asset in legend’s holding’s modern service sector, car is also the first listed project after the company worked out its mid-term development strategy, and attracts a larger number of investors in its ipo.
according to the statistics in its prospectus, car’s adjusted net profits in the first half of 2014 hit rmb 277.2 million, rapidly growing from that of the corresponding period of last year - rmb 14.2 million. additionally, car has also established an efficient, reliable, and extensive technological platform to improve operation efficiency and customer experience. car’s o2o strategy is increasingly developed.
"i am very delighted to witness car’s entry into the international capital market,” said zhu linan on that very day, who was president of legend holdings. “as mr. lu zhengyao said, today sees a milestone of car’s development. through continued efforts and innovation, car has become china’s leading car rental company under the leadership of mr. lu, receiving recognitions from clients, capital market, and people from all walks of life. as a partner who has always provided support for car, we congratulate on its success. in the future, legend holdings will continue to support the long-term development of car. we aim to jointly endeavor to provide greater value to clients and investors and make greater contributions to the development of chinese economy.”
at the same time, as the earliest investor of car, legend capital obtains the seventh listed project and provides high return to its investors in 2014.
liu erhai, director of car and managing director of legend capital, said: “the key to car’s success is that mr. lu zhengyao, the founder and ceo, is discerning about industry trends and can implement established strategy in an efficient way. to be a public company means a new development stage. after development during the past decades, the ecosphere of china’s auto sector has emerged and car’s listing can greatly inspire the confidence of practitioners in this sector and will definitely boost the sound and rapid development of china’s auto rental sector.”
advanced layout for the status of leader in the sector
with china’s consumption upgrade, gradually established and improved credit system, and many innovation and development opportunities created by the boom of mobile internet, china’s auto rental market has grown rapidly in recent years. legend holdings foresaw this market with huge potential and made forward-looking layout in this area in advance.
as one of initial investors, legend capital, an independent venture capital investment subsidiary under legend holdings, entered car as early as at the very beginning of its establishment. we provided strong support for the team to deal with subsequent financings or the financial crisis in 2008. especially during car’s early stage of developing new pattern and direction, legend capital supported it from several perspectives.
at the press conference, zhu linan, president of legend holdings, offered his views on china’s auto rental sector and car: this sector is rising and has broad prospects; in the coming years, it will develop rapidly. car has initially established a nationwide network; the value of its business mode has been verified and the model is being improved during development. the capital injection into car is of a long-term strategic significance and an important step that legend holdings takes in the sector of consumption and modern service. liu chuanzhi, chairman of the board of legend holdings, also indicated that the purpose of the capital injection is to strengthen and expand car.
all-round supports drive car to into a fast track of development
three decades ago, legend holdings began with it business; two outstanding listed companies, lenovo and digital china, were created from it; since its entry into diversified operation in 2000, legend holdings has developed leading equity investment companies legend capital and hony capital, providing high return for investors. thanks to legend holdings’ years of experience with “industry + investment” and summary of business management laws, legend holdings can provide highly valuable management and service for its member companies in the areas it deals with, including consumption and modern service, financial service, modern agriculture, etc.. legend holdings and its invested companies have a common goal of “expanding and strengthening”. adhering to the investment philosophy of “business first, people crucial”, legend holdings has full trust in ceos of member companies and provide them with independent development spaces and positive value-added services.
as we know, given that auto rental is an asset-heavy sector in china and that market financing system is developing with continuous exploration, legend holdings successively provided it with a large amount of capital through various financing forms. in 2012 and 2013, with the supports from legend holdings, car obtained strategic investment respectively from warburg pincus, a leading global private equity investment institution, and hertz, a global giant of auto rental, providing a leading competitive edge for the rapid business development of car. additionally, during the development of car, zhu linan, president of legend holdings, and liu erhai, managing director of legend capital, frequently communicated and discussed on car’s strategy, management and operation with lu zhengyao, founder of car.
the injection of these resources drives car into a fast track of development: in 2010, car had 6,000 vehicles and 300 rental outlets; thanks to its rapid development, up to december 31, 2014, car had 63,522 vehicles, 723 official rental outlets, and 219 franchised outlets, which had become the largest auto rental company in china. in terms of fleet scale, revenue, coverage, and brand awareness, car is a leader in the market. up to december 31, 2014, car’s fleet scale was larger than the total fleet scale of the 9 auto rental suppliers following it and over four times higher than that of the second largest auto rental supplier in china.
lu zhengyao, founder of president of car, said: “legend holdings is one of the most successful practitioners of china’s reform and opening up policy. we highly recognize the values of legend holdings and to work with legend holdings and legend capital that aim to become excellent time-honored companies can provide us with more abundant resources and supports and boost our leaps in strategy, management, branding, and products and services.”