$QUNR Gets ‘Going Private’ Offer from Ocean Imagination

I have no idea who this Ocean Imagination is. Many news sites are wrongly calling them Ocean Management ltd, a defunct British investment firm, which would make sense, being that the Chinese like to produce counterfeits. Maybe this Ocean Imaginaion firm is one giant fiction, an imaginary firm making imaginary bids? What? It’s possible.

Anyway, they made a bid to buy QUNR. Shares are sharply higher in the pre-market.

According to the proposal letter, the Buyer is an entity related to Ocean Imagination L.P., a private equity fund dedicated to investing in travel-related industries in China. The Buyer intends to seek the support of the Company’s shareholders accounting for a majority in voting power of the Company for this proposal. The Buyer also intends to fund the consideration payable in the Transaction with a combination of debt and equity capital, with the equity financing to be provided from the Buyer in the form of cash and any rollover equity capital in the Company from the Significant Shareholders.

The Board has formed a special committee comprised of three independent, disinterested directors, Mr. Jimmy Lai, Mr. Jianmin Zhu and Ms. Ying Shi, to consider the Buyer’s proposal and the transaction contemplated therein. The special committee expects to retain independent advisors, including independent financial and legal advisors, to assist it in this process.
The Board cautions the Company’s shareholders and others considering trading the Company’s securities that the Board has just received the proposal letter and has not had an opportunity to carefully review and evaluate the proposal or make any decision with respect to the Company’s response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any definitive agreement will be executed relating to the proposed transaction or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.