Giant Interactive goes private after $3 billion buyout
Chairman leads audacious bid for remaining stock in ZT Online developer
The Chinese online game operator Giant Interactive has been bought out by its chairman and two private equity companies for $3 billion.
The deal, which was led by chairman Shi Yuzhu and involved Hony Capital and Baring Private Equity Asia, means that Giant Interactive is once again a private company, seven years on from its initial listing in New York in 2007.
The $3 billion offer is equivalent to around $12 per share, 5 per cent more than Giant's $11.40 stock value at the close of trading on Friday. The group behind the deal already owned 47 per cent of Giant's stock. It secured debt financing of $850 million to cover part of the remaining $1.6 billion.
Giant Interactive is the best known as the developer of the popular MMO ZT Online.
Thanks to The New York Times.