CGCC Co-Sponsors Seminar on De-listing and Re-listing of Chinese Companies

December 8, 2011 --  Representatives of various major players in China-U.S. business gathered at the Goodwin Procter New York Office Conference Center on the 26 ^th floor of the New York Times Building in Midtown to discuss the realities faced by some Chinese companies listed in the U.S. The seminar, titled “Going Private, Share Buyback and China Re-listing”, was co-hosted by the China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A., Goodwin Procter LLP, Jun He Law Offices, and the Chinese Business Lawyers Association. During the two hour discussion, two panels composed of representatives from a selection of investment banks and professional services companies that advise on delisting in the U.S. and re-listing in China gave brief overviews on the current investment environment in both countries and key factors that could lead to a decision to delist or re-list as well as information on the procedures involved and what companies could expect if they were to pursue one of the aforementioned options.

In recent months, there has been an emerging trend of U.S.-listed Chinese companies deciding to go private after a period of time trading on U.S. stock exchanges. According to Dennis Galgano, Vice Chairman and Head of International Investment Banking and Vice Chairman at Morgan Joseph TriArtisan, since last October, 18 Chinese companies have announced plans to go private and currently 11 of the 18 have completed the necessary steps to delist. A segment of these delisted companies may then consider re-listing in China. A variety of factors can cause companies to consider either of these actions, including undervaluation and lack of liquidity. A key point that both panels seemed to emphasize to expedite either process was to be thoroughly prepared and know what will be required from your company in deciding to do one or the other or both.

The first panel, “Going Private and Delisting in the U.S.”, was composed of Christopher Croft, Managing Director and Co-Head of Fairness Opinion Group at Houlihan Lokey, Stephen Davis, a Partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, Dennis Galgano, Vice Chairman and Head of International Investment Banking at Morgan Joseph TriArtisan, and Anthony Tomaro, CPA and Managing Director of Audit at UHY Advisors NY, Inc. The panel was moderated by Catherine Pan, an attorney at Goodwin Procter LLP. The second panel, titled “Re-listing in China”, was moderated by Alex Hao, Partner at Jun He Law Offices, and consisted of John Du, Partner at Jun He Law Offices, Catherine Pan, an attorney at Goodwin Procter LLP, and Xudong Tao, Partner at Jun He Law Offices. Participants were allotted time for questions after each panel and the seminar was immediately followed by a networking reception.