Abstract: Taking the restructuring case of Yihua Group, which is controlled by Hubei Yihua, as a study object, this paper analyze the motives of restructuring of the state-owned enterprises and the market reaction therefrom. The study reveals that the success of the government-led restructuring of state-owned enterprises is due to the fact that the political motives of the government are satisfied, i.e. the government promotion is effectively connected with the good business performances; the share purchase of Hubei Yihua has gained excess return for all the tradable shareholders. Further study finds that because of the injection of quality assets, the market gives positive evaluation to the restructuring of state-owned enterprises.

Key words: SOE restructuring；management buy-outs (MBO); political motivation; market reaction