New York-listed Chinese car rental company eHi Car Services announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger with Teamsport Parent and the latter's subsidiary Teamsport Bidco.
Teamsport Parent will acquire eHi for cash consideration equal to USD 6.75 per common share or USD 13.50 in cash per American depositary share, each of which represents two Class A common shares of the company. This represents a 15.4% premium over the closing price of USD 11.70 per ADS as quoted by the NYSE on November 24, 2017.
eHi announced on November 27, 2017 that it had received a non-binding "going private" proposal (which announcement was updated on January 2, 2018 to reflect the proposal from an affiliate of MBK Partners Fund IV, L.P. and Mr. Ray Ruiping Zhang, the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company).
The consideration to be paid to holders of Shares and ADSs implies an equity value for the Company of approximately USD 937.5 million.
The closing of the merger is currently expected to occur during the second or third quarter of 2018. The company's board of directors has approved the merger agreement and the deal is subject to the requisite approval of the shareholders of the company and the consent of requisite holders of the senior unsecured notes.
According to an audited annual report submitted to SEC on April 14, 2017 by Ctrip, the OTA giant held an aggregate equity interest of 14% of eHi's total outstanding share and 19.6% of eHi’s voting power as of December 31, 2016 with the aggregated investment cost of USD 107 million (approximately RMB 0.7 billion).
