Former Vice Chairman Cashed Out Nearly 700 Million Yuan in 7 Trading Days, Longpai Group's Large-Scale Buyback Program Progressing at "Snail Pace"!

Two seemingly unrelated announcements, due to coincidental timing, have drawn public attention to Longbai Group.

On the evening of March 4, Longbai Group announced that its second-largest shareholder, Tan Ruiqing, and his concerted action partners had cumulatively reduced their holdings by 23.8426 million shares through centralized bidding from mid-February to early March. Based on the lowest stock price during this period, the reduction was worth nearly 700 million yuan, exceeding the issuance price by over 400%. The day before, the company also announced that its share repurchase plan, launched in July 2025, had only repurchased 25.48 million yuan worth of shares by the end of February, just 5% of the lower limit of 500 million yuan. Moreover, with only three months remaining in the repurchase period, the stock price has approached the maximum repurchase price.

It is worth noting that Tan Ruiqing was one of the actual controllers of Longbai Group and served as Vice Chairman. Since 2020, he has repeatedly reduced his holdings in the company.

While the company is slowly executing its repurchase plan, the former actual controller, former Vice Chairman, and current second-largest shareholder are making large-scale sales at high prices. This “reverse operation” undoubtedly raises concerns among investors about the company’s commitment to its buyback promises.

Will the company continue to fulfill its repurchase commitments? If the stock price exceeds the maximum buyback price within the next three months, will the plan be adjusted? How does the company view the situation of repurchasing shares while the second-largest shareholder is selling heavily? The Daily Economic News (hereinafter referred to as “the reporter”) sent an email to Longbai Group regarding these questions. The company’s secretary replied, “Regarding the buyback, the company will fulfill its commitments and implement them properly. For the second-largest shareholder’s reduction, please refer to the company’s announced notices. Mr. Tan is no longer with the company.”

Second-largest shareholder’s two rounds of high-level reductions, profits exceeding issuance price by over 400%

On March 4, 2026, Longbai Group issued a notice of change in equity interests, stating that the second-largest shareholder, Tan Ruiqing, and his concerted action partners, Henan Yintai Investment Co., Ltd. and Tangyin Yuxin Methyl Sugar Development Co., Ltd., completed two rounds of concentrated bidding reductions. The shares sold were all unrestricted shares from the company’s 2016 private placement.

Specifically, the two reductions were carried out in two phases. The first phase was from February 13 to February 25, 2026, during which Tan Ruiqing reduced 8.2764 million shares, accounting for 0.35% of the total share capital. The average price during this period was 22.51 yuan per share. Based on this price, the reduction was worth about 186 million yuan. Using the lowest price of 21.34 yuan per share, the value was approximately 177 million yuan. After this reduction, his and his concerted action partners’ combined holdings decreased from 11.35% to 11%, reaching a 1% multiple of equity change.

The second phase was from February 26 to March 3, 2026, during which Tan Ruiqing sold an additional 23.84255 million shares, representing 1% of the total share capital. The average price was 22.74 yuan per share, with a total value of about 542 million yuan. At the lowest price of 21.6 yuan per share, the reduction was worth approximately 515 million yuan.

Source: Announcement screenshot

After this reduction, Tan Ruiqing and his concerted action partners held a total of 238 million shares, reducing their stake to 10% of the total share capital. This involved two rounds of sales totaling 32.11895 million shares, with a minimum cash-out of 692 million yuan.

According to the announcement, all these shares came from the 2016 private placement, with the issuance price at 7.62 yuan per share. Tan Ruiqing, as a participant in the private placement, acquired shares at that price.

However, the Daily Economic News noted that since 2016, Longbai Group has paid dividends, conducted share transfers, and issued additional shares multiple times. If calculated based on the pricing date of the private placement (January 27, 2015), the post-adjustment closing price was 23.83 yuan per share (using January 1, 2015, as the adjustment date). According to the company’s previous announcement, the issuance price for the private placement was no less than 90% of the average stock price over the 20 trading days before the pricing date.

Using the lowest prices during these two reduction periods, adjusted for post-earnings, at 106.2 yuan and 108.02 yuan per share respectively, the average reduction price was 107.11 yuan per share, which is over 400% higher than the issuance price.

Tan Ruiqing was once a company controller and has reduced more than 74 million shares in total

Who exactly is this precise operator, the second-largest shareholder Tan Ruiqing?

A review of his background reveals he is a somewhat legendary figure in the capital world. He graduated from Fudan University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. His career began in Henan’s foreign trade system, where he worked at Henan Chemical Import & Export Corporation. With a keen sense of the chemical industry, he invested in and helped establish Henan Baililian Chemical Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Longbai Group) in 2002, serving as Vice President of Marketing, Vice President of Procurement, and Vice Chairman at different times.

Tan Ruiqing played a crucial role in Longbai Group’s development. In 2016, he led the company’s acquisition of Sichuan Longmang Titanium Industry. This “snake swallowing an elephant” deal established Longbai Group as a leader in the titanium dioxide industry.

More notably, he has been actively reducing his holdings since 2020. The company’s 2020 and 2021 annual reports show that Tan Ruiqing sold 15.0999 million shares in 2020 and 35.7814 million shares in 2021, totaling 50.8813 million shares over two years. Including the two rounds in February and March 2026, his total reductions amount to 74.7239 million shares.

This series of operations has transformed Tan Ruiqing from one of the company’s actual controllers into a “financial investor.” Although his shareholding has decreased and he no longer participates in management or operations, as a former core figure, he still possesses a high level of understanding of Longbai Group.

It is also worth noting that his reductions have occurred near the recent four-year high prices, which are very close to the company’s buyback upper limit of 24.22 yuan per share.

Simultaneously, the company’s buyback progress has lagged, with the company stating it “will fulfill its commitments properly.”

It is noteworthy that while the second-largest shareholder is selling heavily, Longbai Group faces concerns over its stock performance.

According to the company’s March 3 announcement, the buyback plan launched in July 2025 has been progressing far below expectations.

The plan, approved on June 6, 2025, involves using self-owned funds and dedicated loans to repurchase A-shares via centralized bidding, with a total amount of no less than 500 million yuan and no more than 1 billion yuan. All repurchased shares will be used for equity incentives or employee stock ownership plans.

Due to prior share distributions in Q1 and Q3 2025, the maximum buyback price was adjusted from 24.82 yuan to 24.22 yuan per share. The plan’s duration is 12 months from approval, with the first repurchase completed on July 1, 2025.

However, actual progress has been slow. As of February 28, 2026, only 1.5646 million shares had been repurchased, representing just 0.0656% of total share capital, with a maximum transaction price of 16.34 yuan and a minimum of 16.18 yuan per share. The total amount spent was about 25.481 million yuan, far below the 500 million yuan lower limit, with only about 5.1% of the target achieved and roughly 475 million yuan remaining.

Before the surge in titanium dioxide prices in early 2026, the stock price had been oscillating between 16 and 18 yuan, below the buyback ceiling of 24.22 yuan, but the company’s buyback actions were minimal, missing a good opportunity to buy at low prices.

The company’s secretary did not respond to questions about the slow progress of the buyback plan.

Some investors in online forums have questioned why the company is slow in executing the buyback while the major shareholder is selling heavily, with some suggesting the company simply does not want to buy back shares.

Source: Eastmoney Stock Forum screenshot

Regarding the specific reasons for the slow buyback progress and whether the company can meet the 500 million yuan minimum commitment in the last three months, the secretary replied, “Regarding the buyback, the company will fulfill its commitments and implement them properly.”