Huatai United Managing Director Lao Zhiming Departs After 22 Years to Start Own Business

Lao Zhiming, known in the industry as "Lao Amao," has left Huatai United Securities, where he served as managing director, member of the investment banking executive committee, and head of mergers and acquisitions for 22 years. At 49, Lao plans to start his own venture, saying he intends to "do his own thing," with future work focused on self-media content and M&A consulting.

Lao joined Huatai United in 2004 and witnessed the development of the domestic M&A market firsthand. He led several major transactions: in 2014, he oversaw Shenyin Wanguo's share-swap absorption merger with Hongyuan Securities, a deal worth nearly RMB 40 billion that set the A-share M&A record that year; in 2019, he took over as head of M&A following Liu Xiaodan's departure; and in 2026, he completed Siripu's acquisition of Chuangxinwei through a convertible bond issuance and Xinlian Integration's takeover of Xinlian Yuezhou—the former being the first directional convertible bond deal on the STAR Market and the latter the first acquisition of an unprofitable hard-tech asset after the release of the M&A Six Measures.

During his tenure at Huatai United, Lao was frequently invited to participate in discussions and research on revisions to merger and acquisition regulations. He authored two books, "Lao Amao on M&A" and "Lao Amao's New Theory of M&A," and served as a mentor on Jiangsu Television's "Sparkling You" for two consecutive seasons.

Hailing from a rural background in Northeast China, Lao's hobbies include singing errenzhuan and playing with slingshots. Professionally, he has insisted on pursuing strategic M&A with sound industrial logic, steering clear of transactions aimed at short-term share price management.