Investor group makes $333M bid for iSoftStone
Investor group makes $333 million bid for Chinese information technology firm iSoftStone
Chinese information technology company iSoftStone Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that it received a takeover bid from a group of investors that includes its current CEO.
The group is offering to buy all the company's outstanding shares at 58.5 cents per share for each ordinary share or $5.85 per American depositary share. That represents a 20.9 percent premium to the company's closing price on Wednesday and a 32.7 premium to its average closing price for the last 30 days.
Based on 569.2 million shares outstanding as of iSoftStone's last quarterly filing in April, the value of the deal is $333 million. One ADS is equal to 10 ordinary shares.
The group of potential buyers, which includes company Chairman and CEO Tianwen Liu and ChinaAMC Capital Management Ltd., an affiliate of China Asset Management Ltd., appears open to negotiations. It said in a letter to iSoftStone that it plans to pay for the deal with a mix of debt and equity capital.
ISoftStone said that it is reviewing the proposal.
The company's shares rose 35 cents, or 7.2 percent, to $5.19 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $3.68 to $7.09.
