Latest News:  

English>>Business

Sohu says no plan for privatization

By Chen Dujuan (Global Times)

08:20, March 07, 2013

NASDAQ-listed Sohu.com Inc, one of China's largest Internet firms, denied Wednesday a media report that it plans to privatize, despite some analysts' belief that delisting from the US capital market is a good choice for the Beijing-based firm.

Sohu is not talking to investment banks or private equity funds about any plan to take the company private or de­list its stock from the NASDAQ, Sohu said in an announcement Wednesday.

"No such discussions are in progress or currently contemplated," said Yu Chuyuan, co-president and Chief Financial Officer of Sohu.

Yu was responding to a report in the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, which cited four sources Wednesday as saying that Sohu had recently talked to investment banks and private equity funds about a possible privatization plan because Sohu founder and chairman Charles Zhang believed Sohu's share price to be significantly undervalued.

Following the report, Sohu's stock price closed up 12 percent to $48.84 Tuesday (Wednesday Beijing time).

The company is cash-rich enough to freely decide whether to go private, and the move would not be surprising considering its subsidiaries have already been listed or plan to list, Zhong Rixin, an analyst with Beijing-based financial services information provider imeigu.com, told the Global Times Wednesday.

Sohu's online gaming firm Chang­You.com went public on the NASDAQ in 2009, and Changyou-owned game company Shenzhen 7Road Technology Co has already submitted an application for a US listing. Sohu's search engine firm Sogou, as well as Sohu's video division, are also reportedly considering listing, Zhong said.

"As the parent company of these listed and ready-to-list subsidiaries, it is unnecessary for Sohu to keep itself listed," he said.

Sohu, which invests in gaming, search engine and video businesses with growth potential, is in an awkward position in the capital market, and it hopes to gain objective market recognition, Li Zhi, an analyst with Beijing-based Internet research firm Analysys International, told the Global Times Wednesday.


【1】 【2】


We recommend:

Tmall to sell imported milk powder online

China's jumbo jet C919 expected to fly

More loans extended to support agriculture

Direct trade in RMB increases in Thailand

Online advertising surges to $11.7 billion

China seeks economic transformation

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:HuangBeibei、Liang Jun)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Afghan national army holds military exercise

  2. Ship-borne helicopters taking off and landing

  3. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies

  4. A little man’s struggle for job

  5. Art schools exams in Chinese style

  6. Foxes seek food from oil workers in NE China

  7. Chinese and overseas arts serve and return

  8. Old Shanghai posters in the Minguo period

  9. China's richest man sets his sights on foreign projects

  10. Qihoo 360 accused of stealing user info

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Life of the never-touch-a-pan generation
  2. Chinese films ought to tell Chinese stories
  3. Lei Feng spirit never out of date
  4. Call to relax adoption criteria
  5. China has its own Golden Raspberry Awards
  6. Chinese tourists reflect nation's character
  7. Spoiled brats spring from pampering parents
  8. A smile can succeed where a scowl fails
  9. Reducing income inequality an urgent task
  10. Why media turns attention to 'two sessions'

What’s happening in China

Missing baby killed in Changchun | Photos: Local residents mourn for killed baby

  1. Beijing female prison eradicates illiteracy
  2. Couples rush to divorce as house sales tax looms
  3. Veterans can't be forgotten: delegates
  4. Sex-tape officials remain under investigation
  5. Students recommend ren as message to the world