360 Technology to return to A-share market via backdoor listing
360 Technology Co, China’s biggest online security firm, will return to the A-share market through a backdoor listing in Shanghai.
With an expected market value of 50.42 billion yuan (US$7.64 billion), the company will go public through asset injection and related trades with Shanghai-listed SJEC Corp, according to an SJEC statement to the local stock exchange today.
With the trade, 360 Technology, which has more than 600 million users, is expected to return to the A-share market faster than the normal IPO process, which requires candidates to stay on the waiting list for one or two years, analysts said.
360 Technology, formerly known as Qihoo 360, has been preparing for a domestic IPO since it was delisted from New York in 2016.
In March 2016, shareholders of New York-listed Qihoo 360 approved a US$9.3 billion privatization plan, boosting the ambitions of the company to return to the domestic stock market.
The Chinese government has been encouraging overseas-listed firms to return to the domestic capital markets. Over the past years, games company Giant Interactive and advertising firm Focus Media have both floated shares in China after completing similar privatization deals and injecting assets into “shell” firms.