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Charles Chao, Chairman and CEO of Sina Corp., speaks during an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the China Green Business Summit in Zhengzhou, China on Sunday April 23, 2017.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Weibo Chairman Charles Chao and a public investor are in talks to privatize the Chinese company in a deal that would value the Twitter-like company at least $ 20 billion and facilitate the exit of major shareholder Alibaba Group , said two sources.
Chao, whose holding company New Wave is Weibo’s largest shareholder, is teaming up with a Shanghai-based state-owned company to form a consortium for the deal, the sources and a separate person, who have first-hand knowledge of the deal, said. folder.
The identity of the state-owned enterprise could not be determined immediately.
New Wave held a 45% stake in Weibo in February, valued at $ 5.6 billion according to Friday’s share price, followed by Alibaba with 30% valued at $ 3.7 billion, according to the company’s 2020 annual report.
The consortium is looking to offer around $ 90-100 per share to privatize Weibo, two of the sources told Reuters, which is an 80-100% premium over the average share price of $ 50 during the month. latest.
The privatization of China’s largest microblogging platform would pave the way for the sale of the second largest shareholder and main customer Alibaba, eliminating one of its main media assets, the sources noted.
The sources declined to be identified due to confidentiality constraints.
Chao did not respond to a Reuters request for comment from Weibo’s parent, Sina.
Weibo and Alibaba also did not respond to requests for comment.
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