Sina Weibo’s booth is pictured at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2017 in Beijing, China, on Apr 28, 2017.
BEIJING: Sina Corp, the owner of media social platform Weibo, said on Monday (Jul 6) it had received a go-private offer of US$41 per share in cash from a holding company led by its Chief Executive Officer Charles Chao.
The transaction stands at a value of about US$2.7 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on the current outstanding shares and represents a premium of nearly 12 per cent as of Friday’s stock closing price.
New Wave, which is controlled by Chao, already owns 12.15 per cent stake in Sina, according to Refinitiv-Eikon data.
The interest in Chinese take-private deals has been rising following tensions between China and the United States, with several companies considering whether to keep a New York listing or move instead to Shanghai, Shenzhen or Hong Kong.
Sina said in a statement that its Board had formed a special committee consisting of independent directors to evaluate the proposed deal. US-listed shares of the Chinese online media company were up about 9 per cent in early trading.
Last month, online classifieds 58.com Inc and car comparison website Bitauto Holdings Ltd also agreed to be taken private.
