Fosun International has abandoned the purchase of an Israeli insurance company, in the first apparent sign that the recent detention of the Chinese conglomerate’s chairman has had an impact on its investment strategy.

复星国际(Fosun International)放弃了对一家以色列保险公司的收购，这似乎是表明这家中国综合性企业的董事长最近遭拘禁一事对其投资战略产生影响的首个迹象。

Fosun, one of China’s best known companies globally, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday that it was terminating the deal announced last June for it to buy a controlling stake in Phoenix Holdings, an insurance and financial group, from Israel’s Delek Group for 1.8bn shekels ($462m).

复星是中国在全球名声最响的企业之一。周三，该集团在发给香港交易所(HKEx)的一份声明中称，它正在终止去年6月宣布的一宗并购交易。这宗交易的内容是，复星斥资18亿谢克尔（合4.62亿美元），从以色列德雷克集团(Delek Group)手中买下保险与金融集团Phoenix Holdings的控股权。

Fosun issued a separate statement linking the cancellation to global market turmoil. People close to the company said that by scrapping the debt financing that would have been required for the deal, Fosun’s leverage would be reduced, at a time when it is keen to improve its investment rating.

复星还发布了一份声明，把这宗交易的取消与全球市场的动荡联系在一起。与该集团关系密切的人士称，在复星急于改善其投资评级之际，通过放弃完成该交易原本所需的债务融资，复星的杠杆会有所下降。

However, as recently as last month, chairman Guo Guangchang made a visit to Israel in connection with the deal, according to an earlier Fosun statement.

不过，复星更早些时候发布的一份声明显示，就在上个月时，该集团董事长郭广昌还为这宗交易访问了以色列。

Mr Guo disappeared from public view for four days in December in connection with a Chinese government corruption probe into Ai Baojun, a former deputy mayor of Shanghai, according to people close to Fosun. Mr Guo was not a target of the probe but was helping authorities with their investigation into the politician, the people said.

与复星关系密切的人士称，去年12月，郭广昌因被中国政府对原上海市副市长艾宝俊的反腐调查牵扯进去，而从公众视线中消失了4天。这名知情人士表示，郭广昌本人并不是调查对象，而是协助当局调查这位政治人物。

Mr Ai was expelled from the Communist party and removed from his post in the Shanghai government last month.

上个月，艾宝俊被开除党籍和在上海市政府的公职。

Israeli media have reported that Mr Guo was struggling to persuade regulators that the transaction should proceed in spite of his detention. People close to the company have said that some overseas regulators are pressing for official word that Mr Guo is not still under investigation by Chinese authorities — a clarification that normally cannot be obtained in such circumstances in China.

以色列媒体报道称，郭广昌难以说服监管机构相信，尽管他曾遭拘禁，但这宗交易仍应继续推进。与该集团关系密切的人士表示，一些境外监管机构正在施加压力，要求得到关于郭广昌未继续受到中国当局调查的正式表态——但在中国，这种情况下一般是无法得到这样的澄清的。

Fosun declined to comment on whether the deal was cancelled because of resistance from the Israeli regulator.

复星拒绝评论交易取消是否是因为受到以色列监管机构的阻力。

Mr Guo said in a statement: “Fosun always adheres to the value investing philosophy and complies with the risk management principle and has been looking for various investment opportunities actively around the world. In view of the recent global market changes, we have decided to terminate this acquisition which will benefit [us] in focusing on searching for more suitable investment opportunities around the world.”

郭广昌在一份声明中表示：“复星一直坚守价值投资的逻辑、遵守风险管理的原则，积极在全球寻找各类投资机会；鉴于全球市场近期的变化，我们决定终止此项收购，有利于集中精力在全球范围内寻找更合适的投资机会。”

People familiar with the company said that Fosun, given the global market situation, would focus on managing and integrating projects in which it has already invested and be more cautious in selecting new ones while trying to improve its financial leverage.

熟悉复星的人士表示，考虑到全球市场的形势，复星会把精力集中在对已投资的项目的管理和整合上，并会在努力改善财务杠杆的同时更谨慎地物色新项目。