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Clinic Operator Eyes Imminent New York Exit

By Yang Ge / Jan 15, 2019 07:02 PM / Business & Tech

Photo: VCG

Photo: VCG

One of the oldest in a wave of privatizations of U.S.-listed Chinese firms looks set to finally come to a close with word of the imminent completion of a buyout of private clinic operator iKang Healthcare Group.

A unit of electronics giant Suning has just joined a group that is taking iKang private, throwing in $50 million to the cause, according to a new company filing. The firm is joining a group with strong ties to Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma in a $1.5 billion bid to take the company private.

That deal is expected to close sometime this month, in what would end a more than three-year plan to privatize the company, Suning said in a stock exchange statement.

iKang was just one of many U.S.-listed Chinese companies to float privatization plans back in 2015, many believing their shares were undervalued and hoping to re-list at higher valuations at home. But a bidding war quickly broke out after some private investors thought the original management-led plan was too low, and the deal eventually ground to a halt before being revived last March in its current form.

Founded in 2007, iKang is China’s second largest operator of private clinics. Many see big potential in the area as Beijing slowly allows more private money into a healthcare sector – a sector that was previously mostly off limits to such investment.

Related: Alibaba-Led Consortium Privatizes iKang Clinic Network


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