This year, under the warm policy winds of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and restructuring, the enthusiasm of listed companies to participate in the establishment of industry funds has been growing day by day.

According to statistics from Shanghai Securities News reporters, since September alone, 19 listed companies have announced their intention to participate in the establishment of new industry funds. In addition, nearly 70 listed companies have issued announcements related to the establishment of industry funds, covering the completion of industrial and commercial registration, fund filing, or other related progress. Listed companies are actively exploring new growth points through industry funds, optimizing resource allocation, and accelerating transformation and upgrading.

In these announcements, the vast majority of listed companies choose to establish industry funds jointly with professional investment institutions, with emerging industries receiving particular attention from capital. The investment targets of the industry funds are mostly upstream and downstream industries, and some companies have explicitly stated that the industry funds will be used for mergers and acquisitions.

Several senior investment professionals interviewed by reporters said that the establishment of industry funds by listed companies will become a long-term trend and play a more important role in the investment market, becoming an important part of China's "patient capital" in the future economy.

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Emerging industries are favored by capital

Among the industry funds proposed to be newly established since September, except for funds that have not explicitly stated their investment purposes, other funds have unanimously turned their attention to emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and digitalization. The listed companies that choose to establish industry funds are also mostly concentrated in related industries.

The digital service provider Sai Information announced that it plans to invest in targets with growth potential or profitability in fields such as artificial intelligence and digital elements by participating in the investment of industry funds. Official website information shows that Sai Information focuses on the application of technology and business model in industrial Internet, intelligent manufacturing and other fields, providing enterprises with high-end software consulting, implementation, and integration services.

More than half of the newly established industry funds have a total subscribed capital of more than 100 million yuan (based on the first subscribed capital). Among them, the leading enterprise in the new energy field, CATL, announced its participation in the investment of Fujian CATL Zeyuan Carbon Neutrality Equity Investment Fund Partnership, with a "big hand" subscribed capital of 700 million yuan. The partnership mainly invests in the fields of new energy and high-end manufacturing, with a total subscribed capital of up to 50.86 billion yuan.

In recent years, the central and local governments have actively introduced policies to promote the development of industry funds and the growth of technology-based enterprises.

In July this year, the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission promoted the establishment of three leading industry mother funds in integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence, with a total investment of more than 89 billion yuan. In addition, Hunan, Hubei, Beijing, Jiangsu and other places have also introduced relevant policy measures to support the development of emerging industries.Most funds target "upstream and downstream"

The investment targets of industrial funds established by listed companies are mostly their upstream and downstream industries. These industrial funds attempt to explore and discover layout opportunities for new technologies and new business forms in the upstream and downstream of the ecological industry chain, striving to enhance the synergistic effect of the industry chain, promote the collaborative development of upstream and downstream enterprises, and jointly promote the continuous upgrading of the industry.

Crystal Optoelectronics recently announced that the industrial fund it participates in plans to invest in Guangchi Semiconductor. Crystal Optoelectronics' main business covers the optical and optoelectronic industry, while Guangchi Semiconductor relies on ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition Coating) and ETCHING (etching) technology to achieve coating technology applications and equipment sales in the semiconductor or pan-semiconductor field.

Crystal Optoelectronics stated that through this investment, the company will achieve a strategic layout in the key technology field of semiconductor ALD. Close cooperation with the equipment end can not only ensure that the company's services and products are always at the forefront of the industry, seize the opportunities for the expansion of the future mid-to-high-end market, but also help the company further strengthen in-depth cooperation with Japan Guangchi, delve into the industry chain, and enhance the company's core competitiveness and sustainable profitability.

Gan Shixi, the founding partner of Shengshan Assets, pointed out that listed companies, especially those that are the core nodes of the industry chain, can enhance their own core competitiveness and deepen the integration of the entire industry chain by investing in the establishment of industrial funds and investing in upstream and downstream industries, effectively alleviating the problem of overcapacity.

"Paving the way" for mergers and acquisitions is an important reason

Many companies have clearly proposed to use funds to acquire other companies' related assets and equity when establishing industrial funds, in order to strengthen the advantages of the industry chain and consolidate the company's main business.

Taking Hanbo High-tech as an example, the company focuses on display design, optical development, intelligent manufacturing, and supply chain integration, and plans to subscribe to a capital contribution of 170 million yuan to jointly establish an industrial investment fund with professional investment institutions for investment layout related to the company's main business products, equipment, materials, and their upstream and downstream industry chains. Hanbo High-tech stated that the establishment of this industrial investment fund will revolve around the company's strong chain, supply chain, and solid chain needs, help the company explore emerging technology opportunities, and empower the company's future development strategies such as industrial mergers and acquisitions integration.

More listed companies choose to cross-invest and acquire with industrial funds to expand their own business territory.

Recently, Tongli Risheng, a domestic leader in elevator components, announced its plan to establish an energy storage industry investment fund to invest in and acquire new energy, energy storage, wind power, and photovoltaic-related assets and equity. The total subscribed capital contribution of this industry fund is 150 million yuan.Tongli Risheng began its foray into the energy storage sector in 2022. Through a cash payment, Tongli Risheng acquired 33.76% of the equity in Tianqi Hongyuan and plans to increase its capital by 250 million yuan. Tongli Risheng stated that upon completion of the transaction, the company will add energy storage and power station businesses to its existing operations, with Tianqi Hongyuan as the main entity, forming a dual-core business development model. This is expected to enhance the company's profitability and sustainable development capabilities.

Gan Shixi believes that establishing cross-industry industrial funds can pave the way for traditional listed companies to create a second growth curve. However, it also poses new challenges for the company's resource integration and team-building capabilities, with the market yet to provide answers.

In the view of Xiang Yang, Chairman of Qianrun Holding Group Co., Ltd., listed companies should focus on methods and strategies when forming industrial funds and should fully consider investment risks. Regarding the phenomenon of establishing cross-industry industrial funds, he suggests that listed companies actively participate as funders, with professional institutions directing project development. This approach aims to achieve market-oriented operations, professional management, and a win-win situation where listed companies gain new growth momentum, the entire industry chain benefits from upstream and downstream development, and the fund achieves sustainable returns.