Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. is to be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange next Monday, one month earlier than a previously expected mid-August closing date for the private equity-backed take-private transaction, according to Chinese media reports.
The departure from the New York bourse will mark the end of a 13-months process to complete the largest take-private deal of a U.S.-listed Chinese company.
Back in June 2015, Qihoo 360 received a preliminary non-binding proposal from its founder and a group of investors to take it private in a deal that values the Chinese software firm at approximately US$9.3 billion.
Rumors soon emerged that the buyers, including chief executive Zhou Hongyi, CITIC Securities Co. Ltd., Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I, China Renaissance Holdings Limited, and Sequoia Capital China I might lower their offering price as the Chinese stock market crashed last summer.
But investors held on to their original proposal, offering US$77 per American Depository Share (ADS) in cash, a premium of 16.6% to the company’s last closing price before the announcement.
Qihoo 360 raised US$175 million via an initial public offering in 2011, selling 12 million shares at US$14.5 per share.