E3, Jade buy 49% of Jilin refinery for 241m yuan

E3 Holdings – The company and Jade Technologies are together buying a 49% stake in an oil refinery in China's Jilin province for about RMB241m (S$47.8m). A statement from Jade Technologies said that plans to extend the oil refinery are expected to involve development costs of RMB20bn. Jade said that over a three-year period, its total investment and loan are estimated to be about RMB6.89bn. Venture capitalist Dr Anthony Soh is the controlling shareholder of Jade Technologies and is also the single largest shareholder in E3, formerly known as Ei-Nets Holdings. E3 will take a 15% stake in the oil refinery while Jade will hold 34%, both through wholly owned subsidiaries. The two companies are creating a consortium to acquire the entire refinery, which has an annual capacity of 1m tonnes, and are looking for local partners to take up the remaining 51% stake. Under Chinese law, foreign investors cannot hold more than 49% of an existing refinery.