WSP Holdings: Going Private Transaction Amended To Extend Termination Date

(RTTNews) - WSP Holdings Limited (WH), a Chinese manufacturer of API or American Petroleum Institute and non-API seamless casing, tubing and drill pipes used in oil and natural gas exploration, drilling and extraction (Oil Country Tubular Goods or OCTG), and other pipes and connectors, announced that the parties to the going private transaction of the Company have amended the Agreement and Plan of Merger to extend the termination date to December 31, 2013.

In February 2013, WSP Holdings had agreed to be taken private by WSP OCTG GROUP Ltd. (Parent), a company owned by H.D.S. Investments LLC, and JM OCTG GROUP Ltd., a unit of Parent (Merger Sub), in a deal valued at about $893.6 million, including the assumption of debt. The Merger was expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

WSP Holdings said that, pursuant to the deal, each of its ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger would be cancelled and cease to exist in exchange for the right to receive $0.32, and each American Depositary Share, which represents ten shares, would represent the right to surrender the ADS in exchange for $3.20 in cash.

The $0.32 per Share or $3.20 per ADS offer represented a premium of 60 percent over the company's closing price of $2.00 per ADS on December 12, 2011, the last trading day prior to the company's announcement of its receipt of a "going-private" proposal.