Perfect World Receives Buyout Offer From Chairman

(RTTNews) - Chinese online game developer Perfect World Co., Ltd. (PWRD) said Friday that it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal from its founder and chairman Michael Yufeng Chi to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company that he does not already own in a going private deal that values the company at about $1 billion.

Yufeng Chi has offered $20 in cash per American Depositary Share, representing a premium of 25.7% to Perfect World's closing price on December 30, the day before he made the offer in a letter to the Perfect World board.

Yufeng Chi said in his letter that he plans to finance the deal with a combination of debt and equity capital.

Perfect World said its board has formed a special committee of independent directors consisting of three independent directors, Daniel Dong Yang, Bing Xiang and Han Zhang, to consider Yufeng Chi's offer. The independent committee plans to hire a financial advisor and legal counsel to assist it in its work.

Separately, Perfect World said it has appointed Yunfan Zhang as Chief Operating Officer. Zhang joined Perfect World in February 2013. He served as the company's vice president and later became senior vice president, in charge of the company's mobile game publishing business. Prior to joining Perfect World, Zhang served as the CEO of Beijing Zhizhu Network Technology Co., Ltd. from 2008 to 2012.

Perfect World ADS are currently trading at $19.20, up $3.44 or 21.83%.