Qihoo 360 To Go Private; All-cash Deal Valued At Approx. $9.3 Bln

(RTTNews) - Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which the company will be acquired by a consortium of investors in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $9.3 billion, including the redemption of approximately $1.6 billion of debt. The investor consortium includes, among others, Citic Guoan, Golden Brick Silk Road Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Taikang Life Insurance, Ping An Insurance, Sunshine Insurance, New China Capital, Huatai Ruilian, Huasheng Capital or their affiliated entities.

If completed, the merger will result in the company becoming a privately-held company and its ADSs will no longer be listed on the NYSE. The merger is currently expected to close during the first half of 2016.

Global Village Associates Limited, an entity controlled by Hongyi Zhou, and Young Vision Group Limited, an entity controlled by Xiangdong Qi, have agreed to vote all of the shares they beneficially own, which represent approximately 61% of the voting rights attached to the outstanding shares as of the date of the merger agreement, in favor of the approval of the merger agreement.

Qihoo 360 Technology Co. is the number one provider of Internet and mobile security products in China as measured by its user base. Qihoo 360 also provides users with secure access points to the Internet via its web browsers and application stores.