Weil, Gotshal & Manges, O’Melveny & Myers and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have advised on a $2.8 billion bid to take Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive Group Inc private.
The offer was made by the company’s chairman, Yuzhu Shi, and an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia.
The offer of $11.75 per American Depositary Share represents a 16 percent premium to the stock's closing price on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 22.
Giant Interactive, whose main competitors are Changyou.com, Perfect World and NetEase, said the bidding group already owned about 47.2 percent of its shares.
The bidders expect to finance the deal with a combination of debt and equity capital, the company said.
According to the proposal letter, Wilson Sonsini is serving as U.S. counsel to Yuzhu Shi and the bidding consortium as a whole, while O’Melveny & Myers is Giant Interactive’s U.S. counsel.
A Weil, Gotshal team led by Hong Kong-based Asia managing partner Akiko Mikumo is acting as U.S. counsel to Baring Private Equity Asia.
Chinese online gaming generated revenue of about $3.3 billion in the second quarter, up about 27 percent from a year earlier, according to research firm iResearch.
Giant Interactive, known for its ZT Online and XT Online series, reported a 9 percent rise in revenue to about $96 million for the third quarter, reported Reuters.
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
