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Tianyancha App shows that recently, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Shunfa Food Packaging Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes. The grassroots trade union joint committee of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as the "grassroots trade union joint committee") has withdrawn from the ranks of shareholders. The company is now wholly owned by Zong Fuli.

As early as March 21 this year, Zong Qinghou withdrew from the ranks of shareholders of Shunfa Food Packaging Co., Ltd. and distributed his shares to the grassroots trade union joint committee and Zong Fuli, but the specific proportion was not disclosed. Just five months later, on August 16, the grassroots trade union joint committee also withdrew from the ranks of shareholders, and Zong Fuli became a wholly-owned shareholder., and served as legal representative, executive director and manager.

The withdrawal of the grassroots trade union joint committee has led to speculation about whether Wahaha is diluting employee shares, as Wahaha has done similar operations before. In 2018, Wahaha began to repurchase employee shares at a price of 2.6 yuan per share. At that time, some people believed that Wahaha's repurchase of shares might be in preparation for listing.

The employee stock ownership incentive system has a long history for Wahaha, and the implementation of the system dates back to 1999. After four years of development, in 2003, the company achieved shareholding by all employees. To this day, the grassroots trade union joint committee is still an important shareholder of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd., the operating entity of Wahaha, holding 24.6% of the shares. In addition, Hangzhou Shangcheng District Cultural, Commercial and Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. holds 46% of the shares. The actual controller of the company is the Hangzhou Shangcheng District Finance Bureau, and Zong Qinghou still holds 29.4% of the shares of Wahaha Group.

In addition, the reporter of Yicai.com found in Tianyancha that there are four other enterprises invested by the grassroots trade union joint committee. They are Hangzhou Wahaha Guangsheng Investment Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Qili Investment Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Zhenzong Investment Co., Ltd. and Panshi Tiancheng Investment Co., Ltd. Among them, Panshi Tiancheng Investment Co., Ltd. has been cancelled.

It is worth mentioning that in these companies, Zong Fuli is gradually gaining power. Among them, Hangzhou Wahaha Guangsheng Investment Co., Ltd. had a change information on March 30 this year, adding Zong Fuli as manager and executive director, and Zong Qinghou withdrew from the main personnel. On April 3 this year, Zhejiang Qili Investment Co., Ltd. also added Zong Fuli as executive director and manager. As for Zhejiang Zhenzong Investment Co., Ltd., on April 3 this year, Fuli served as executive director, manager and legal representative and invested in the company, but the amount of investment has not been announced yet.

Moreover, Zong Fuli has been working in more and more Wahaha-related companies. On August 12, Hengyang Hengfeng Beverage Co., Ltd. underwent industrial and commercial changes. Shi Youzhen (Zong Fuli's mother) resigned as chairman, Shi Lijuan resigned as director, and Zong Fuli was changed from director to executive director.

The "resignation storm" in July this year did not seem to have any substantial impact on Zong Fuli's taking over Wahaha. On July 22, Wahaha issued a statement saying that in order to ensure the company's stable and healthy development, after friendly consultation among shareholders, Ms. Zong Fuli decided to continue to perform the relevant management responsibilities of Wahaha Group.

(This article comes from China Business Network)