Chinese online-game company Shanda Games Ltd. said Friday that
it has agreed to be taken private in a $1.9 billion deal after a
yearlong effort.
A consortium of buyers will pay US$3.55 an ordinary share and
US$7.10 per American depositary share, representing a 46.5% premium
over Shanda Games's 30-day average before its January announcement
that it had received a going-private offer.
Shanda Games' American depositary shares closed at US$6.49 on
Thursday, up 14.3% this year.
The consortium of buyers already owns about 76% of the company
and controls 91% of its voting power. The deal is expected to close
in the second half of the year.
In January 2014, a group which included then-controlling
shareholder Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. offered to buy
the company, valuing it at just under $2 billion.
In September, a group of private-equity firms, including Carlyle
Group LP, withdrew from the consortium, which was backing the
controlling shareholders' efforts to buy out the company.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at chelsey.dulaney@wsj.com
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