China\'s Giant Interactive to go private for $3bn

New York-listed Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive said Monday it had agreed to be taken private by its parent, backed by a consortium which will fund the $3 billion purchase. The parent would acquire the listed unit at $12.00 per share, 2.1 percent higher than the previous proposal of $11.75 offered in November last year, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement on its website. The latest price represented a 5.3 percent premium from Giant Interactive's closing price of $11.40 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. The consortium -- Giant Interactive chairman Shi Yuzhu, Baring Private Equity Asia and an affiliate of Hony Capital Fund -- already owns a total 49.3 percent of the company and would purchase the rest with cash and proceeds from debt financing, the statement said. After the deal, which is expected to close in second half of this year, the listed unit would become a privately held company and its shares will no longer be listed in New York, it said. Giant Interactive is one of the country's leading online game developers with a focus on multi-player, role-playing games, according to the company. Its planned privatisation followed the $2.3 billion buyout deal of Nasdaq-listed Chinese game developer Shanda Interactive by chairman Chen Tianqiao in 2012, according to state media reports.