Wu Shichun seized control of ST Lutong. After replacing the board of directors, he changed the official seal.
After Wu Shichun became the largest shareholder of ST Lutong (300555.SZ) at the beginning of this year, his path to taking control of the company has been full of obstacles and even witnessed fierce conflicts. Recently, after finally getting his own person elected as the chairman, the old and new shareholders have once again clashed over the company's official seal.
At 5 p.m. on November 12, the official WeChat account of "Lutong Video" suddenly issued a "Severe Statement on the Illegal Act of Counterfeiting Our Company's Official Seal", stating that some lawbreakers had illegally counterfeited and forged the official seal of "Wuxi Lutong Video & Communication Network Co., Ltd." and might use the forged seal to engage in illegal activities such as signing contracts, issuing documents, false bidding, and financing guarantees.
However, just one hour later, ST Lutong issued an announcement on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, "refuting" the above statement. It stated that the company had completed the re - engraving of the new official seal, legal representative seal, contract - specific seal, and financial - specific seal on November 12, and the original official seal, original legal representative seal (Lin Zhu), and original contract - specific seal had been invalidated.
It is worth noting that the company's official seal and the legal representative seal of Lin Zhu used in the statement on the official WeChat account of "Lutong Video" are exactly the "invalidated" old seals mentioned in ST Lutong's announcement. This incident is also regarded as another confrontation between the old and new shareholders of ST Lutong.
Lin Zhu is the actual controller of Huasheng Yuncheng and the founder of Huasheng Fund. In January this year, 12.55% of the shares held by ST Lutong's controlling shareholder, Huasheng Yuncheng, were put up for judicial auction. Wu Aijun, the chairman of Jiangsu Hongjia Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., won 5.11%, and the remaining 7.44% was won by well - known venture capital tycoon Wu Shichun, the founder of Plum Ventures. Wu Shichun became the new largest shareholder of the company.
Although Huasheng Yuncheng's shareholding was reduced to zero, it acquired the voting rights of 6.28% of the company's shareholder Jia Qing, and was still the controlling shareholder of ST Lutong at that time. Lin Zhu remained the actual controller of ST Lutong. After Wu Shichun became the largest shareholder of ST Lutong, he began to seek to control the company's board of directors.
For this reason, Wu Shichun has clashed with Huasheng Yuncheng several times this year. On November 7, Tan Wenshu, a director nominated by Wu Shichun, was elected as the chairman, while Qiu Jingwei, the former chairman representing Lin Zhu's side, and director Fu Xinyue were removed from their positions. As Lin Zhu's side lost control of the board of directors, the result of the "infighting" in ST Lutong began to tilt in favor of Wu Shichun.
Venture Capital Tycoon's "Power Struggle"
ST Lutong was established in 2007, mainly engaged in communication equipment and smart IoT application business, as well as emerging businesses such as AI software development and artificial intelligence. It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2016. In 2021, Huasheng Yuncheng acquired 12.55% of ST Lutong's shares from the former actual controller Jia Qing and was entrusted with 6.28% of the voting rights, thus becoming the new controlling shareholder of the company, and Lin Zhu became the new actual controller.
As Huasheng Yuncheng's shares were auctioned off by the court, Wu Shichun became the largest shareholder, and the "infighting" between the old and new shareholders was on the verge of breaking out. In May this year, Wu Shichun, together with veteran employees of ST Lutong, Gu Jiming and Yin Guanmin, proposed to restructure the company's board of directors, but the proposal was unanimously rejected by the then - board of directors.
After that, Lin Zhu's side began to fight back. In July this year, they sued Wu Shichun and other shareholders in court. The reason was that Wu Shichun planned to acquire 6.4% of the shares from ST Lutong shareholders such as Gu Jiming, Yin Guanmin, and Pingxiang Huide and increase his shareholding through the secondary market, but he did not disclose the information as required by law. They requested the court to rule that the voting rights of the illegally increased shares of Wu Shichun should not be exercised.
According to ST Lutong's announcement, as of the end of September, Wu Shichun held 10.46% of the listed company's shares, and he had increased his shareholding by 3.02% through the secondary market.
It was not until September 8 this year that Wu Shichun's situation took a turn for the better. The supervisory board meeting held on that day passed the proposal to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to remove Qiu Jingwei and Fu Xinyue from their director positions.
On November 7, the second extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of ST Lutong was held. Wu Shichun and the actual controller's side clashed fiercely over the issue of board members. During the meeting, Qiu Jingwei, the former chairman of the company, suddenly announced an adjournment of the general meeting and postponed it. After that, Qiu Jingwei and other management members left the venue. At the proposal of shareholders such as Wu Shichun, ST Lutong reconvened the shareholders' meeting in the afternoon of the same day.
Finally, among the 12 proposals submitted to the shareholders' meeting, 3 were passed, namely, removing Qiu Jingwei and Fu Xinyue from their director positions and electing Tan Wenshu as a new director. Tan Wenshu is a partner of Ningbo Plum Angel Investment Management Co., Ltd. and was nominated by Wu Shichun.
With the end of the shareholders' meeting, Lin Zhu's side, the actual controller of ST Lutong, lost control of the board of directors. On November 7, the new board of directors held a meeting, appointing Tan Wenshu as the chairman. Gu Zhonghui, the general manager, and deputy general managers Fu Xinyue and Wang Lumin were dismissed. Yu Tao, who once served as the general manager of Wuxi Lutong Network Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly - owned subsidiary of ST Lutong, was appointed as the new general manager of the listed company. At the same time, the board of directors also announced the withdrawal of the lawsuit previously filed against Wu Shichun and others.
In response, on November 9, Lin Zhu's side issued a statement on the official WeChat account of "Lutong Video", condemning "individual shareholders for illegally convening an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders". They firmly opposed and denied the legal validity of the so - called "extraordinary general meeting of shareholders" and any resolutions made by it, and reserved the right to pursue legal liability against relevant responsible persons and would file a lawsuit according to law if necessary.
It is worth noting that although Lin Zhu's side has lost its seats on the ST Lutong board of directors, the company has not yet issued an announcement to declare the transfer of control, and Lin Zhu remains the actual controller of ST Lutong.
In addition, during the "infighting" between Wu Shichun and Lin Zhu, Wu Aijun, who became the third - largest shareholder of ST Lutong through a judicial auction, has also been very active. In October this year, Wu Aijun nominated two non - independent director candidates, Chen Shaokang and Wu Aiguo, to the board of directors, but Wu Aijun's nominations were not approved at the recent extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.
Chen Shaokang currently serves as the deputy general manager of Beijing Yitang Changhou Venture Capital Fund, and Wu Aiguo is the deputy general manager of Suzhou Hongweister Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. The announcement mentioned that Wu Aiguo and Wu Aijun are brothers. According to industrial and commercial information, Suzhou Hongweister Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. is a wholly - owned subsidiary of Jiangsu Hongjia Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., and Wu Aijun is the chairman and legal representative of Hongjia Electronic. Hongjia Electronic mainly engages in RF IC and Mini LED packaging business. The company completed a Pre - IPO round of financing in 2022, but it has not yet started the listing guidance process.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Damo Finance" (ID: damofinance). The author is Damo Finance. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.