HNA Tech, the technology arm of HNA Group, is planning to acquire the e-commerce site Dangdang in a deal worth 7.5 billion yuan (US$1.17 billion), Yicai.com reported.
In the acquisition plan disclosed, HNA Tech said it will conduct a stock-for-stock exchange and a private offering of additional shares, so as to acquire 100% equity of Beijing Dangdang Cowen E-commerce Co. Ltd., as well as Beijing Dangdang Information Technology Co. Ltd.
The plan is supported by the Tianjin municipal government, as state-owned Tianjin T&B Holding Co. Ltd. will subscribe for 1 billion yuan in the 4.06-billion-yuan private offering of additional shares.
Zhang Min, vice-president of Haitong Securities, said although the valuation represents a high premium over net assets, it is still below the industry average in terms of other valuation indicators for an e-commerce company.
As of 2017, Dangdang’s registered users reached an impressive 230 million, a healthy rise of 21.83% from a year earlier. It has 4.38 million monthly active users, and nearly 260,000 daily orders received. The page views alone have hit 13.25 billion, a substantial increase of 19.59%.