Studio 8 investor Guo Guangchang is no longer missing — strictly speaking.
The billionaire is “assisting” a Chinese judicial investigation but is able to continue with the major decisions of his company, according to a filing by the publicly traded arm of his Fosun Group conglomerate.
Friday, Fosun International Ltd. said Guo was “assisting in certain investigations carried out by Mainland judiciary authorities,” in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It added that Guo “may continue to take part in decision makings of the company’s major matters via appropriate means” and that company operations remain normal.
Thursday, Guo — a major investor in Studio 8, the independent studio formed by former Warner Bros. chief Jeff Robinov — was inexplicably out of reach starting at noon Thursday, Shanghai time, according to a Chinese publication Caixin, citing anonymous sources. Shares in Fosun International were halted Friday when the company said it had “lost contact” with Guo.
A media representative for Fosun didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for further comment about the investigation or his means of communication.
In August, China’s official Xinhua News Agency had reported that Guo was involved in a back-scratching arrangement with an executive of a state-owned company more than a decade ago that resulted in unspecified benefits, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. That report said Guo wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.
Friday’s filing requested that trading in Fosun International resume first thing Monday.
Fosun is crucial to the ambitions of Robinov’s Studio 8. With financing from Fosun and a distribution deal with Sony Pictures, the studio plans to produce two dozen movies over the next five years.
Fosun, which is based in Shanghai, manages a variety of businesses, including insurance, asset management and industrial operations, as well as a leading Chinese film company, Bona Film Group.