Homecoming For Chinese Companies: Appraisal Rights & Fair Value

On 20 May 2020, the US Senate passed the S. 945 the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, an act which could force the delisting of US-listed Chinese companies should they be in noncompliance with US accounting standards. Shortly after, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced its version of the Bill which has yet to pass.

This bill requires certain issuers of securities to establish that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government. Specifically, an issuer must make this certification if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is unable to audit specified reports because the issuer has retained a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the board. Furthermore, if the board is unable to inspect the issuer's public accounting firm for three consecutive years, the issuer's securities are banned from trade on a national exchange or through other methods.

This creates a conundrum, if not an impossibility, as Chinese regulators forbid foreign regulatory bodies, such as the PCAOB, from inspecting accounting firms based in China.

The Act, which is still to be ratified by the House, reconciled with the Senate bill, and approved by President Trump, provides even greater impetus for “take private” transactions (often expecting to re-list elsewhere at higher valuations) and secondary listings in markets outside of the United States, such as Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Hong Kong is laying out the welcome mat. First the HKEx amended its listing rules in April 2018 to allow companies with multiple classes of shares with individual-controlled voting rights to sell shares in Hong Kong. This new listing regime enabled secondary listings for the likes of JD.com Inc (ADR) (JD US) / JD.com (HK) (9618 HK) and Alibaba Group (BABA US) / Alibaba Group (9988 HK). Further changes to the Listing Rules are anticipated to accommodate companies with corporate shareholders with weighted voting rights - such as Tencent Music (TME US).

But on occasion, the consideration paid under these take-private "homecoming" transactions are not always considered fair by the investment community.

The recently completed 58.Com Inc Adr (WUBA US) (58.com: Foregone Conclusion Amidst Proxy Advisor Pushback) faced considerable proxy advisor backlash. Similarly, Sina Corp (Class A) (SINA US)'s preliminary non-binding “going private” proposal from its chairman/CEO, is widely viewed as a low-balled, opportunistic Offer (Sina Corp: Management Buyout Offer).

For Cayman Islands incorporated companies, such as SINA and 58.com, Section 238 of the Companies Law (2020 Revision) may provide scope for dissenting shareholders to a merger/take-private transaction to have the Grand Court determine the fair value of their shares.

That right to dissent also hinges off how these take-private transactions are undertaken,

As of today, four cases have resulted in final judgments handed down by the Grand Court of Cayman - Integra Group, Shanda Games Ltd Spons Adr (GAME US), Qunar Cayman Islands (QUNR US), and most recently, Nord Anglia Education (NORD US).