From left to right, President Yan Yan, Chairman Pan Shiyi and CEO Zhang Xin at Soho China Annual Results conference. 8th March 2016. Credit: Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
For the husband-and-wife team whose futuristic designs have shaped China’s most famous modern skylines, the last year has seen a precipitous fall.
In early July, Soho China’s chief financial officer was hit with an insider trading probe, adding to a cascade of recent issues for the property company, including government fines for electricity price gouging, debt load difficulties, and the failure of a $3 billion takeover offer from the U.S. private equity giant Blackstone. Since that deal fell through last September, Soho China’s Hong Kong-listed shares have lost 60 percent of their value.
Data: Yahoo Finance
Some of the company’s troubles are a reflection of broader issues in the Chinese property market, a sector which analysts say is rife with insider trading. But many also see the Soho founders, Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi, as two more victims of Beijing’s recent efforts to take on some of the country’s prominent business moguls.
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