Camelot Information gets buyout offer from CEO

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Camelot Information Systems Inc. jumped more than 11 percent Tuesday on news that a group that includes its CEO and other executives has offered to buy the Chinese information technology company and take it private.

Simon Yiming Ma, who serves as chairman and CEO, along with Heidi Chou, the company's president, and Yuhui Wang, an executive vice president and CEO of the company's CFITS subsidiary, have offered to buy all of the company's American depositary shares that they don't already own for $1.85 per share in cash.

The offer represents a 23 percent premium over Camelot's Monday closing ADS price of $1.50. Based on the company's 44.4 million outstanding shares, the deal values the company at about $82.1 million. Camelot shares were up 17 cents, or 11.3 percent, to $1.67 in afternoon trading, after peaking at $1.76 earlier in the session.

The group plans to finance the deal through a combination of debt and equity capital, adding that it has been in talks with a financial institution interested in financing the deal.

Camelot said its board has formed a committee of independent directors to consider the proposal.