Homeinns Announces Receipt of Preliminary Non-Binding "Going Private" Proposal
SHANGHAI, June 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Homeinns Hotel Group ("Homeinns" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: HMIN), a leading economy hotel chain in China, today announced that its Board of Directors (the "Board") has received a non-binding proposal letter, dated June 11, 2015, from BTG Hotels (Group) Co., Ltd. ("BTG Hotels"), Poly Victory Investments Limited ("Poly Victory"), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. ("Ctrip"), Mr. Neil Nanpeng Shen ("Mr. Shen"), Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of the Company, James Jianzhang Liang, Co-Founder and Director of the Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Ctrip ("Mr. Liang"), and David Jian Sun, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company ("Mr. Sun," together with BTG Hotels, Poly Victory, Ctrip, Mr. Shen and Mr. Liang, the "Buyer Group"), proposing a "going-private" transaction (the "Transaction") to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Homeinns not already owned by the Buyer Group for US$32.81 in cash per American depositary share ("ADS"), which represents a premium of 20% to the average closing trading price of the Company's ADSs during the past 20 trading days.
The Buyer Group beneficially owns an aggregate of approximately 35% of all of the Company's issued and outstanding ordinary shares.
According to the proposal letter, the Buyer Group intends to fund the consideration payable in the Transaction with a combination of debt and/or equity capital, and rollover equity in the Company. A copy of the proposal letter is attached as Annex A to this press release.
The Board has formed a special committee comprised of three independent, disinterested directors, Messrs. Kenneth Gaw, Terry Yongmin Hu and Arthur M. Wang. The special committee plans to retain legal and financial advisors to assist it in evaluating the Transaction.
The Board cautions the Company's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Board just received the non-binding proposal letter from the Buyer Group and no decisions have been made with respect to the Company's response to the Transaction. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed 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.
About Homeinns Hotel Group
Homeinns Hotel Group is a leading economy hotel chain in China based on number of hotels and hotel rooms as well as geographic coverage of the hotel chain. Since the Company commenced operations in 2002, it has built Homeinn as one of the best-known economy hotel brands in China. In October of 2011, the Company acquired Motel 168, another well-known hotel chain in China, as its second economy hotel brand. Homeinns Hotel Group aims to offer a consistent product and high-quality services to primarily serve the fast growing population of value-conscious individual business and leisure travelers who demand clean, comfortable and convenient lodging. Homeinns Hotel Group's ADSs, each of which represents two ordinary shares, are currently trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HMIN." For more information about Homeinns Hotel Group, please visit http://english.homeinns.com.
Safe Harbor
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include our anticipated growth strategies; our future results of operations and financial condition; the economic conditions of China; the regulatory environment in China; our ability to attract customers and leverage our brands; trends and competition in the lodging industry; the expected growth of the lodging market in China; and other factors and risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release also contains statements or projections that are based upon information available to the public, as well as other information from sources which management believes to be reliable, but it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate, nor does it purport to be complete. We undertake no obligation to update or revise to the public any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Ethan Ruan
Homeinns Hotel Group
Tel: +86-21-3337-3333*3872
Email: [email protected]
Cara O'Brien
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852-3768-4537
Email: [email protected]
Annex A
June 11, 2015
The Board of Directors
Homeinns Hotel Group
No. 124 Caobao Road
Xuhui District
Shanghai 200235
People's Republic of China
Dear Sirs:
BTG Hotels (Group) Co., Ltd. ("BTG Hotels"), Poly Victory Investments Limited ("Poly Victory"), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. ("Ctrip"), Mr. Neil Nanpeng Shen ("Mr. Shen"), Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors (the "Board") of Homeinns Hotel Group (the "Company"), Mr. James Jianzhang Liang, Co-Founder and Director of the Company and the Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Exertive Officer of Ctrip ("Mr. Liang"), and David Jian Sun, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company ("Mr. Sun", together with BTG Hotels, Poly Victory, Ctrip, Mr. Shen and Mr. Liang, the "Buyer Group"), are pleased to submit this preliminary non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares (the "Shares") of the Company not owned by the Buyer Group in a going-private transaction (the "Acquisition"). Our proposed purchase price is US$32.81 per American Depositary Share of the Company ("ADS", each representing two Shares) in cash. The Buyer Group currently beneficially owns approximately 35% of all the issued and outstanding Shares of the Company.
We believe that our proposed price provides an attractive opportunity to the Company's shareholders. This price represents a premium of 20% above the average closing price of the Company's ADSs over the last 20 trading days.
The terms and conditions upon which we are prepared to pursue the Acquisition are set forth below. We are confident in our ability to consummate an Acquisition as outlined in this letter.
- Buyer Group. Members of the Buyer Group intend to enter into a consortium agreement, pursuant to which members of the Buyer Group will agree to, among other things, cooperate in connection with implementing the Acquisition, and work with each other on an exclusive basis in pursuing the Acquisition.
Upon obtaining requisite PRC governmental approvals, BTG Hotels may enter into an agreement with other members of the Buyer Group to acquire part or all of the Shares held by them in exchange for equity interests in BTG Hotels, cash and/or other forms of consideration (the "Consortium Transaction"), provided, however, that the price per Share used in the Consortium Transaction will be the same or lower than the Offer Price (as defined below), and the closing of the Consortium Transaction will be subject to receipt of all PRC governmental approvals required for the consummation of the Consortium Transaction. - Purchase Price. Our proposed consideration payable for the Shares acquired in the Acquisition is US$32.81 per ADS, or US$16.405 per Share (the "Offer Price"), in cash.
- Financing. We intend to finance the Acquisition with a combination of debt and/or equity capital. Equity financing will be provided by the Buyer Group in the form of cash and rollover equity in the Company. Debt financing is expected to be provided by loans from third party financial institutions. We are confident that we can timely secure adequate financing to consummate the Acquisition.
- Due Diligence. Parties providing financing will require a timely opportunity to conduct customary due diligence on the Company. We would like to ask the Board of the Company to accommodate such due diligence request and approve the provision of confidential information relating to the Company and its business to possible sources of equity and debt financing subject to a customary form of confidentiality agreement.
- Definitive Agreements. We are prepared to negotiate and finalize definitive agreements (the "Definitive Agreements") expeditiously. This proposal is subject to execution of the Definitive Agreements. These documents will include provisions typical for transactions of this type.
- Confidentiality. The Buyer Group will, as required by law, promptly file a Schedule 13D to disclose this proposal. We are sure you will agree with us that it is in all of our interests to ensure that our discussions relating to the Acquisition proceed in a confidential manner, unless otherwise required by law, until we have executed the Definitive Agreements or terminated our discussions.
- Process. We believe that the Acquisition will provide value to the Company's shareholders. We recognize of course that the Board will evaluate the proposed Acquisition independently before it can make its determination whether to endorse it. In considering the proposed Acquisition, you should be aware that we are interested only in acquiring the outstanding Shares that the Buyer Group does not already own, and that the Buyer Group does not intend to sell their stake in the Company to a third party.
- No Binding Commitment. This letter constitutes only a preliminary indication of our interest, and does not constitute any binding offer, agreement or commitment with respect to an Acquisition. Such a commitment will result only from the execution of Definitive Agreements, and then will be on the terms provided in such documentation.
* * * * *
In closing, each of us would like to express our commitment to working together to bring this Acquisition to a successful and timely conclusion. Should you have any questions regarding this proposal, please do not hesitate to contact any of us. We look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
BTG Hotels (Group) Co., Ltd.
By: /s/ Rungang Zhang____________
Name: Rungang Zhang
Title: Chairman of Board of Directors
Poly Victory Investments Limited
By: /s/ Yi Liu ____________________
Name: Yi Liu
Title: Authorized Person
Ctrip.com International, Ltd.
By: /s/ James Jianzhang Liang___
Name: James Jianzhang Liang
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Neil Nanpeng Shen
/s/ Neil Nanpeng Shen_____
James Jianzhang Liang
/s/ James Jianzhang Liang__
David Jian Sun
/s/ David Jian Sun________
SOURCE Homeinns
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