By LI Jingya

China Renaissance shares plunged over 30 percent and closed 28.1 percent down at HK$7.19 (US$0.92, 6.3 yuan) on Friday after the investment bank declared founder BAO Fan was missing.

Bao founded China Renaissance in 2005. It is now one of the leading financing institutes in china’s technology, media, and telecom (TMT) businesses. The company was behind the merger of ride-hailing firms Didi Chuxing and Kuaidi Dache, as well as the merger of Meituan and Dazhong Dianping, the two leading lifestyle service apps at the time.

Bao was last publicly seen in December when he attended the Future Science Prize ceremony. His WeChat moments were last updated on January 9, when he congratulated a company that China Renaissance invested in on its successful listing. 

On Tuesday, China Renaissance announced on its WeChat account that the company was among the VCs in DAS-Solar’s latest financing round. Bao was quoted in the announcement saying the company stands firmly behind DAS-Solar.

In 2016, China Renaissance got securities brokerage license in the Chinese mainland and founded China Renaissance Securities. In September last year, president of the securities firm CONG Lin was arrested by the police.

It is unclear whether Bao’s disappearance is related to company business.