Telstra completes sale of Autohome stake to Ping An

The telecommunications giant - which acquired a majority stake in the US-listed company in 2008 - will retain a 6.5% interest and reduce its number of directors on the board from six to one, according to a statement. Telstra continues to face litigation regarding a legal challenge to the deal that was launched after a competing private equity-backed bid was made earlier this year.

Last month, a group of minority shareholders filed a petition against Telstra's move to sell its Autohome shares to Ping An at $29.55 apiece - a proposal that valued the company at about $3.5 billion. The Telstra offer represented a discount to a prior $31.50-per-share take-private attempt made by a PE consortium including Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital. Details of the legal objection or the identities of the petition participants, however, have not been disclosed.

Telstra has maintained that Ping An's car insurance expertise offers synergies to Autohome as it moves away from a purely online business model and into a full auto transaction service platform. Ping An claims almost 300 million online users, 150 million financial customers, existing car manufacturer and distributor relationships and a nationwide offline service network.

Autohome is considered China's leading online marketplace for cars and a preferred advertising platform among automakers and dealers. It recorded a 62% year-on-year increase in revenue during 2015 to RMB3.5 billion ($524.4 million). Net income was up 32% at RMB990.6 million.

Telstra will use the proceeds to fund a capital management program of at least A$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) and expects to book an accounting gain of A$1.8 billion on the sale.

 

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Consumer
• Open market
• China
• Sequoia Capital
• Boyu Capital
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• TMT
• automobiles