Qihoo seeks delisting in the US to go private

China’s biggest Internet security services provider, Qihoo 360, has become the latest and largest Chinese company seeking to delist from the United States stock market.

中国最大的互联网安全服务提供商，奇虎360成为最近从美国股市退市中最大的中国公司。

It is attempting to cash in on bullish sentiment and high valuations at home.

该公司想要从看涨的行情和国内较高的估值进行定价。

A consortium led by Zhou Hongyi, the company’s chairman and chief executive, made a preliminary nonbinding proposal on Wednesday to take the company private for $77 per share.

周三，该公司主席兼CEO周鸿祎提出一份不具约束力的提案，以每股77美元的价格将公司私有化。

Citic Securities and Sequoia Capital China are also part of the consortium, and the decision was announced by Qihoo after the US markets closed.

美股收盘后，奇虎宣布了这一决定，同时中信证券和红杉资本（中国）也是该收购财团的成员。

The bid represents a 17 percent premium over Qihoo’s previous close in New York and a 32.7 percent premium over the average of the past month. The buyout offer is estimated to be about $9 billion.

该价格比之前纽交所收盘时溢价17%，比上月平均成交价溢价32.7%。收购要约的估值达90亿美元。

If successful, it will be the largest privatization deal in the US by a Chinese company to date, overtaking Focus Media’s $3.7 billion management-led buyout in May 2013.

如果成功，这将是目前为止中国公司在美国完成最大的私有化交易，超过2013年5月分众传媒由37亿美元的管理层收购案。

Zhou said in a corporate internal e-mail on Wednesday: "This is a strategic decision made by carefully weighing the global and Chinese capital markets. Many of us believe Qihoo’s current capitalization of $8 billion does not sufficiently represent the value of this company."

周周三在公司内部电子邮件中说:"这是通过仔细权衡，全球和中国的资本市场作出战略决策。我们很多人相信奇虎的当前资本化 $ 80 亿不充分代表该公司的价值。

This year, Chinese companies listed in the US, most of which are Internet technology-based, have been rushing to return to the home market, where the valuation gap between US and domestic listings has widened further.

今年，在美上市的大部分中国科技公司，由于中美两国市场的估值差距进一步扩大，加快了资本回国的步伐。

Social network operator Renren and online dating website Jiayuan.com have also received proposals to go private, while online game developers Perfect World and Shanda Games have decided recently to delist in the US.

社会网络人人网和在线交友网站世纪佳缘也都收到了私有化提案，在线游戏开发商完美世界和盛大游戏最近已经决定在美国退市。

The Qihoo deal would bring the value of Chinese companies in the US going private to $22.4 billion this year, according to data provider Dealogic. The figure is nearly double the amount for the previous six years combined.

据研究机构迪罗基数据显示，奇虎的退市案将使中国公司今年在美私有化规模达到224亿美元。 该数值接近前6年总和的2倍。

Zhao Rui, a technology, media and telecommunications analyst at Guotai Junan Securities, said, "The major motive behind this wave of returns to China is the widening valuation gap."

国泰君安证券技术、传媒和电信分析师赵睿称，估值差距是这波资本回国浪潮的最主要原因。

Central government policy has also led to companies deciding to return home, with the State Council issuing statements to support companies with "special shareholding structures" to go public on the domestic market.

中央政府政策也促使许多公司决定返回国内，国务院发表声明，支持“特殊的股权结构”的公司在国内上市。

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来源:华尔街日报中文网爱语吧作者:孙梦光