Bitauto's privatization proposal approved at shareholder meeting, to be delisted from NYSE

On October 23, Internet auto service provider Bitauto announced that the company's shareholders voted to approve the privatization proposal at its annual meeting.

According to the announcement, shareholders representing approximately 88.9% of Bitauto's total outstanding shares voted in person or by proxy, with each shareholder having one vote for each share of common stock. Ultimately, the shareholders approved the privatization agreement with approximately 99.9% of the votes cast in favor of the privatization agreement.

Bitauto will work with the other parties to the privatization agreement to try to satisfy the closing conditions and close the transaction in a timely manner. Upon completion of the transaction, Bitauto will become a privatized company and its shares will no longer be listed or traded on any stock exchange.

Previously, on June 12, Bitauto announced that the company's board of directors unanimously approved and formally signed a merger agreement with a consortium of investors led by affiliates of Tencent Holdings and Hammer Capital. The consortium of investors will acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Bitauto and its affiliates at a price of US$16 per American Depositary Share (ADS) in cash, for a total transaction value of US$1.1 billion. The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2020 and the investor consortium's acquisition will be funded by a combination of cash and existing equity. After that, Bitauto will become a privately held company and delist from the New York Stock Exchange.

According to the company's website, it was founded in 2000, with Li Bin, the current chairman of NIO (NYSE: NIO), as founder and chairman of the company. In 2010, Bitauto was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). As China's leading auto internet company, e-Car provides professional and rich internet information and shopping guide services for Chinese auto users, as well as effective internet marketing solutions for auto manufacturers and auto dealers.

According to its second-quarter financial report, the company's revenue for the second quarter was 1.96 billion yuan, compared with 2.79 billion yuan in the same period last year, down 29.7% year-on-year; net loss was 536.4 million yuan, compared with a net loss of 136.2 million yuan in the same period last year.