A Brilliant Capital Game! Real Estate Tycoon "Takes Over" Vaccine Giant

How does AI Li Yunchun’s capital operation affect control rights?

After being suspended for two days, the vaccine giant Watson Bio’s “white knight” finally emerges.

On the evening of March 18, Watson Bio announced: plans to issue shares to Tengyun Xinwo, raising no more than 2.003 billion yuan. After this issuance, Tengyun Xinwo will become the company’s controlling shareholder.

Tengyun Xinwo is a shell company, with actual investor Huang Tao, son of former Fujian richest man Huang Rulun, who is also the owner of Century Golden Source. Century Golden Source has close ties with Yunnan. In 2017, founder Huang Rulun was publicly reprimanded for bribing Bai Enpei, former secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee. In 2018, Huang Tao began to take over most of the group’s equity and served as CEO, completing the leadership transition.

As an established real estate giant, Century Golden Source has substantial assets, ranking among China’s top 500 enterprises for years, and once among the top ten real estate companies nationwide. Commercial projects such as Century Golden Source Shopping Center, Fangyuan Hui, and Fangyuan LIVE are all developed by Century Golden Source.

Earlier, the market expected industry capital or state-owned assets from Yunnan to take over, but the entry of the “real estate sector” was somewhat unexpected. On March 19, Watson Bio resumed trading, closing at 12.39 yuan per share. Despite the market falling more than 50 points, the company’s stock price rose 0.9% against the trend, with a total market value of 19.82 billion yuan.

New major shareholder has a strong background

In the context of systemic adjustments in the real estate industry, Huang Tao’s family wealth has fluctuated but remains substantial. The 2026 Hurun Global Rich List shows that Huang Rulun and Huang Tao’s family wealth reaches 35.5 billion yuan, ranking 871st globally. In October 2025, the Huang family donated over 100 million yuan to South China University of Technology.

After taking over, Huang Tao no longer focuses solely on construction but seeks cross-sector transformation. Since 2022, Century Golden Source has repeatedly gained control of listed companies through capital operations: acquiring Wantong Technology in 2022, and in June 2025, taking control of Anniel. If this transaction proceeds smoothly, Watson Bio will become his third controlled A-share listed company.

Before suspension, Watson Bio’s total market value was 19.64 billion yuan, significantly below its peak market cap of over 100 billion, and its shareholding structure is highly dispersed, with a lower control threshold compared to similar-sized pharmaceutical companies in A-shares.

According to the announcement, Tengyun Xinwo was formed under Huang Tao’s leadership, with a capital contribution structure of: Century Golden Source about 1.6 billion yuan, Li Yunchun about 240 million yuan, and Xishen Assets about 160 million yuan, with all three participating jointly. After this issuance, Tengyun Xinwo will hold 11.51% of Watson Bio; combined with core shareholders like Li Yunchun and Liu Junhui, who have a maximum of 7-year joint action agreements, the new shareholder camp will hold a total of 14.46%, making Huang Tao the actual controller.

It is reported that all proposals related to this private placement at Watson Bio’s board meeting were approved unanimously.

However, the transaction has not yet been finalized and still requires approval at the shareholders’ meeting. If approved, Watson Bio, which has been without a controlling shareholder for nearly 16 years, will usher in its first actual controller.

Difficult to change the situation

Century Golden Source has no prior experience in biopharmaceuticals and cannot assist Watson Bio in its business. Moreover, handing over the company during its downturn does not align with Li Yunchun’s usual style.

The market naturally favors industry capital stepping in. But some industry insiders believe that since Li Yunchun, founder of the company, comes from the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, which operates relatively independently within the national vaccine system, it is unlikely to seek vaccine peers for investment.

As for local state-owned assets, during the 2025 partial recovery of Watson’s minority stake in Yuxi, external state-owned capital had basically exited. In July 2025, Watson Bio signed a strategic cooperation framework with Yuxi State-owned Assets, which mentioned that Yuxi SASAC would consider investing in the company, but this route also failed to materialize.

Century Golden Source’s involvement was definitely unexpected. Although it has a so-called health and wellness sector, most of its offline businesses are family medical services, specialized medical care, and elderly care, with little connection to pharmaceuticals. Industry insiders believe that Century Golden Source’s entry was likely orchestrated by Li Yunchun.

In this private placement, Li Yunchun invested 240 million yuan to subscribe for about 24.92 million shares at 9.63 yuan per share. But prior to this, Li Yunchun had been reducing holdings almost every year since 2016, cashing out about 4 billion yuan in total. Currently, his direct shareholding has dropped to 1.7%.

After profiting from the sale of many shares, Li Yunchun also brought in new investors, using very low costs to strengthen his influence, making this a classic case of capital operation.

While this private placement can certainly boost Watson Bio’s capital, it may not be able to reverse the overall decline.

From 2022 to 2024, Watson Bio’s revenue continued to decline, with its two main products growing sluggishly. Sales of the bivalent HPV vaccine shrank significantly due to fierce price competition, and its blockbuster 13-valent pneumonia vaccine, which once held a monopoly, faces increasing domestic competition and a declining birthrate.

The 2025 earnings forecast shows that the company’s total vaccine revenue decreased by about 8% year-on-year, and net profit after non-recurring gains and losses fell 9% to 22%. If new shareholders only bring money but no better business ideas, Watson Bio’s prospects will not improve significantly.

Written by: Li Ao

Edited by: Jiang Yun, Jia Ting

Operations: Nian Shisan

Illustration: Visual China

Statement: Original content by Jian Shi Ju. Please do not reprint without permission.