Ning Gaoning, chairman of Sinochem Group, concurrently serves as chairman of ChemChina ren Jianxin and retires

Sinochem Group and ChemChina have been rumored to have been merging since last year, but they have not been officially confirmed. The appointment indicates that the merger of the two groups is on the agenda.

Caijing reporter Yu Le/Wen Mark/Editor

"Finance" reporter exclusively learned that Ning Gaoning, chairman of Sinochem Group, has been appointed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and will concurrently serve as the chairman of ChemChina. This appointment indicates that the merger plan of the two groups is on the agenda.

"Caijing" reporter learned that after Ning Gaoning took office, Ren Jianxin, the current chairman of China National Chemical Group, will retire. The SASAC will soon announce his retirement and Ning Gaoning's appointment. In March this year, Ning Gaoning said that Sinochem had no plans to merge with ChemChina.

Sinochem Group and ChemChina are both central enterprises in the chemical industry under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Since last year, the news of the merger of the two groups has been continuously reported, and a number of foreign media have also reported it, but the news has never been confirmed by the two companies and the SASAC.

Personnel arrangements are a top priority in the merger of the two companies. Ren Jianxin and Ning Gaoning were both born in 1958, Ren Jianxin is now 60 years old, and Ning Gaoning will turn 60 years old in November. Sinochem Group is a state-owned key backbone enterprise, according to the custom, Ning Gaoning's retirement age is 63 years old; although ChemChina is not a state-owned key backbone enterprise, it belongs to the "World's Top 500", which can also be extended to 63 years old according to the custom.

With the announcement of the appointment and dismissal of personnel, Ning Gaoning is expected to lead the merger of the two groups.

According to public information, Ning Gaoning received a bachelor's degree in economics from Shandong University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh, and served as chairman and general manager of China Resources Group in the early years, then became chairman of COFCO In 2004 and was transferred to chairman of Sinochem Group in 2016.

Ning Gaoning is known for his M&A expertise, having led a series of acquisitions during both China Resources Group and COFCO Group. According to media statistics, during the 11 years that Ning Gaoning was the chairman of COFCO, COFCO initiated a total of 50 mergers and acquisitions, including Mengniu Dairy, Fulinmen Edible Oil, Great Wall Wine, Wugu Dojo Instant Noodles and other well-known brands.

In 1984, Ren Jianxin participated in the establishment of one of the important predecessors of ChemChina, Bluestar Chemical Cleaning Company, and gradually developed Bluestar and later ChemChina Group into a Fortune 500 company, known as the head of a state-owned enterprise that "started from scratch".

Ren Jianxin is also good at mergers and acquisitions. Last June, ChemChina spent $49 billion to acquire Syngenta (NYSE: SYT), the world's largest pesticide and third-largest seed technology company.

At that time, Caijing magazine quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that there was a Figure of Sinochem Group behind the acquisition. ChemChina and Sinochem Group set up a joint working group, with Xiao Yaqing, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, as the team leader, and Jianxin and Ning Gaoning as the deputy team leaders.

The Financial Times reported at the time that the purpose of the merger of ChemChina and Sinochem was to allow ChemChina to have sufficient financial capacity to digest Syngenta.

(Author WeChat: wuski001, welcome to exchange)