Sogou Announces Completion of Transaction to Go Private
Chinese online search firm Sogou announced today that it has completed a merger according to an agreement reached with Tencent Holdings on September 29, 2020. As a result of the move, the company ceased to be publicly traded and became a privately-held company wholly-owned indirectly by Tencent.
This is the first time that Sogou has disclosed details regarding the merger since Chinese authorities unconditionally approved Tencent’s acquisition of the firm on July 13 of this year.
The company also announced today that it has requested the trading of its ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange be suspended. The tradable shares of Sogou were acquired at a price of $9 per ADS. Previously, Sogou had an independent product matrix. After becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent, Sogou’s original browsers, reading and other products will be merged with similar products of Platform and Content Group within Tencent. However, its search and input method services will be operated under the original brand.
In addition, another Chinese internet firm Sohu announced the completion of the equity transaction in Sogou. Sohu, which holds 33.8% of shares in Sogou, will receive $1.18 billion after the transaction, and will no longer retain any rights and interests in Sogou.
Founded in 2004, Sogou was a subsidiary of Sohu before, and its main business includes search, input method, email and so on. In November of 2017, Sogou was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the financial report released by Sogou, in the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, Sogou’s total revenue was $147.5 million, while the net profit attributable to Sogou was $39.9 million.
