A Chinese recycling company spent $75 million on a Michelangelo masterpiece - and is selling shares in it for $10 a piece
- A Chinese company which used to focus on recycling has spent $75 million buying a Michelangelo.
- Yulong Eco-Materials, which until recently was focused on recycling bricks and concrete, announced earlier this week that it had bought a depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Michelangelo.
- The company now says it wants to focus on collecting art, abandoning its recycling business.
- It had previously bought a 61,500-carat gem known as the "Millennium Sapphire" in October for around $50 million.
A Chinese company previously focused on recycling has taken a novel approach to the diversification of its investment portfolio, spending $75 million to buy a painting by Italian master Michelangelo Buonarotti.
Yulong Eco-Materials, which until recently was focused on recycling bricks and concrete, announced earlier this week that it had bought a depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ painted by Michelangelo.
Michelangelo Buonarotti is most famous for painting Rome's Sistine Chapel, and for his sculpture, David.
The company says it wants to "open the opportunity of shared ownership of its acquired masterpieces to anyone with a brokerage account," and said that it would pay for the acquisition by offering 7.5 million shares for sale at $10 per share.
In an abrupt volte face, Yulong now says it wants to focus on this business model, rather than recycling.
The Michelangelo is its second serious acquisition, following the purchase of a 61,500-carat gem known as the "Millenium Sapphire" in October for around $50 million. It also offered shares for sale in the gemstone, and has plans to take the jewel on a world tour, according to a Bloomberg report.
"Yulong has today pioneered this new disruptive business model by the acquisition and securitization of fine art through a Nasdaq-listed security," Yulong's executive chairman Daniel McKinney said in a statement after the Michelangelo purchase was announced.
Shares in Yulong jumped as much 47% on November 19, the day the purchase was announced, while in October, after the acquisition of the Millennium Sapphire, shares increased almost 1000%.