Carlyle, promoters sweeten takeover bid for China's budget hotel chain 7 Days to $688 mn
02 Mar 2013
A consortium led by private equity firm Carlyle Group and the co-chairmen and founders of Chinese budget hotel chain 7 Days Group Holdings Ltd yesterday sweetened their takeover offer by 9 per cent to $688 million.
The consortium comprising 7 Days' co-chairmen and founders Boquan He and Nanyan Zhen, Carlyle Group and Sequoia Capital, have now offered to buy the shares that they do not already own for $4.60 per share or $13.80 per American Depositary Share, each representing three ordinary shares.
The offer represents a 30.6-per cent premium over the closing price of $10.57 per ADS on 25 September 2012, the last trading day prior to the company's announcement on September 26, 2012 that it had received a ''going private'' proposal.
The company's board has approved the deal, which is expected to close during the second half of 2013.
The approval comes after the board had earlier rejected the consortium's September 2012 offer of $4.23 each, or $12.7 per American depository share.
Boquan He holds about 23 per cent of the company's ordinary shares and Nanyan Zheng holds 9.3 per cent, while New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus is the largest outside shareholder with a 16-per cent stake.
