Fosun to buy Meadowbrook Insurance for about $433m

Fosun International Ltd, China's biggest private conglomerate, inked two deals in Europe within 24 hours in March.

On March 27, Hellenic Republic Assets Development Fund, a state privatization agency in Greece, said it received an offer from Fosun International to develop a coastal Olympic complex left largely abandoned since the 2004 Athens Games. Greece's Lamda Development offered 915 million euros for the project at Hellenikon, the Greek capital's former airport, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. Lamda's bid is backed by Fosun and Al Maabar International Investment from Abu Dhabi.

On March 28, Fosun International announced the acquisition of full equity interests in BHF-BANK, a German private bank, by a consortium led by RHJ International, a financial services group, and its wholly owned subsidiary Kleinwort. Fosun invested about 98.5 million euros in the deal.

Earlier in February, Fosun International bought a controlling stake in Caixa Seguros, Portugal's largest insurance group, for 1 billion euros in a bid to build an investment group focused on the insurance sector.

Fosun to seek gold on the silver screen

Private conglomerate Fosun Group and State-owned Shanghai Film Group on July 29 announced the establishment of a joint investment fund to tap into opportunities in China's burgeoning film and entertainment market.

The fund will be used as a platform to cooperate in such areas as film and television production, distribution, screening and development of derivative products, according to a statement on Fosun's official website.

Fosun and SFG will invest in and import domestic and foreign films as well as TV shows. Meanwhile, the two firms also are looking into acquiring cinema assets, "to fully explore industrial opportunities in the explosive growth of China's film market," the statement said.

The statement didn't reveal the size of the fund, nor the details of its future investment.

"By combining Fosun's resources and financial strength with our industry experience and operational capacity, we can practice forward-looking strategies," said Ren Zhonglun, president of SFG.