April 8, 2018
Chinese car rental company Ehi Car Services Ltd said on Friday the company would be taken private by a consortium led by its Chief Executive Officer Ray Ruiping Zhang in a deal valued at about $937.5 million.
The offer of $13.50 in cash per American depositary share of Ehi represents a 15.4 percent premium to the company’s close on Nov. 24, when a third party China-based investment fund, Goliath Advisors Ltd, bid for Ehi.
Ehi formed a special committee in December to review Goliath’s offer. But in early January the company said it has received a non-binding proposal from a consortium that included affiliates of MBK Partners HK Ltd, the company’s CEO and his affiliates.
The consortium’s offer superseded that of Goliath’s, the China-based investment fund informedEhi.
The current consortium, which is set to buy Ehi, consists of new investors, including certain affiliates of MBK Partners Fund IV LP, Baring Private Equity Asia Ltd and Redstone Capital Management (Cayman) Ltd.
It also included some existing shareholders of Ehi, including an affiliate of CEO Zhang.
The consortium will fund the deal through a combination of proceeds from a loan facility from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc and Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore and cash from some of the members of the consortium.
Ehi‘s shares rose about 2 percent to $13.36 in morning trading.