Autohome shareholders challenge sale to China's Ping An
Minority shareholders of Chinese auto services company Autohome have filed a petition against a recent move by Telstra to sell the majority of its controlling stake to Ping An Insurance Group for $1.6 billion.
The challenge filed in a Cayman Islands court follows a take-private offer extended immediately after Telstra's initial sale announcement by Autohome CEO James Qin alongside Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital. According to a statement, Telstra intends to contest the petition.
Details of the legal objection or the identities of the petition participants have not been disclosed. Minority shareholdings in Autohome as the end of February included a 5.7% voting block divided among a number of management personnel.
Last month, the PE-backed consortium submitted a bid of $31.50 per Autohome share, eclipsing Telstra's $29.55-per-share offer and valuing the company at about $3.5 billion. The telecommunications giant has rejected the consortium offer, citing potential synergies related to Ping An's car insurance expertise as Autohome moves away from a purely online business model.
Telstra intends to sell a 47.7% stake in Autohome to Ping An and retain 6.5%. The US-listed company's stock spiked to a three-month high of $32.15 following this announcement but has since declined to $25.17 as of May 24.
Autohome is considered China's leading online marketplace for cars and a preferred advertising platform among automakers and dealers. Last year it tracked a 79% year-on-year increase in mobile traffic, with 7.7 million and 6.1 million daily unique users on its websites and apps, respectively.
As of December 2015, the company had more than 19.6 million registered users, up 7.2 million from the previous year, and 749 million posts in its user forums. Most of the company's revenue comes from advertising and dealer subscription services.
Autohome recorded a 62% year-on-year increase in revenue during 2015 to RMB3.5 billion ($528.1 million). Net income was up 32% at RMB990.6 million.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.