Chinese Matchmaking Website To Acquire Its Peer

Nasdaq-listed Chinese online dating website Jiayuan.com announced a merger with its peer Baihe.com.

With this deal, Baihe.com will acquire Jiayuan's American depositary shares and ordinary shares for consideration of between USD240 million and USD250 million. On the completion of the acquisition, Jiayuan will be delisted from Nasdaq. In addition, Wu Linguang, chairman and chief executive officer of Jiayuan, will be co-chairman and co-CEO of the surviving company and Baihe will initiate a company renaming process.

According to public files, Jiayuan was listed on Nasdaq on May 11, 2011 with the share code of "DATE"; while Baihe was listed on National Equities Exchange and Quotations of the PRC on November 20, 2015. Jiayuan's financial statistics for 2014 showed that its total asset value was USD109 million, which was about CNY651 million; and Baihe's audited asset value in 2014 was CNY68.72 million.

In connection with the entry into the merger agreement, Baihe has deposited a cash amount of CNY150 million with Jiayuan, which will be utilized to fund a portion of the merger consideration. Meanwhile, Baihe plans to fund the remainder of the merger consideration via a private placement of its shares or a bank loan.

The merger is expected to close no later than the first quarter of 2016. If completed, Jiayuan will become a privately-held company and will no longer be listed on Nasdaq.