Fight Over Ringtone Firm Heats Up

由中国投资者组成的一个团体正在加紧争夺中国手机铃声提供商华友世纪(Hurray Holding Co.)控制权的步伐；这个投资者团体批评华友世纪缺乏透明度，并表示如果竞争对手出现，它可能会修改报价。这个团体由欢乐传媒(Joy Media Group)创始人兼总裁董朝晖(Jacky Tung)领导，希望赶走在美国上市的华友世纪目前的管理层，将这家公司转变为多元化的媒体平台。为收购一家中国公司而爆发争取投资者的公开之争，这种竞购情况还不多见。在上周日致华友世纪董事会的信中，董朝晖说，华友世纪未能对4月24日要求以每股3.50美元收购该公司51%股份的报价做出回应。他说，华友世纪拒绝了该投资者团体要求开始谈判和尽职调查的要求，也没有给出任何解释。这封信还援引中国媒体的报导说，华友世纪正在与另一方进行独家磋商。信中说，尽管事实是我方在过去6个月中一直在与你方讨论过我们的报价，但你们没有向我们透露存在任何竞争的报价。无法证实是否存在竞争性的报价及其来源。华友世纪投资者关系管理人士Christina Low周日没有接听打到她办公室的电话，也没有回复电子邮件。上周三，华友世纪董事会披露已经收到了来自董朝晖财团的报价，正在根据股东价值最大化的原则评估各种不同的战略选项。董朝晖在周日接受采访时说，如果竞争性的报价更高，而且这个投资者团体获准对华友世纪进行尽职调查，它可能会调整收购条款。在《华尔街日报》4月27日首先报导了该投资团体的收购要约后，华友世纪的股价大幅上扬。该公司的股价从消息报导前1.50美元的收盘价升至最高2.28美元，但仍远低于每股3.50美元的收购报价。华友世纪上周五收于1.98美元，下跌0.4%，总市值为4,340万美元。报价与交易价之间的差价反映出投资者对华友世纪董事会接受这个报价的怀疑态度，再就是公司的市值过小──这降低了并购套利交易员对收购结果投机的空间。董朝晖在信中说，如果我们不能立即得到你们的答复，我们保留撤回收购要约的权利。如果出现这种情况，你们应对给你们股东带来的潜在损失负责。Rick Carew相关阅读新浪收购分众传媒可能是笔好买卖 2008-12-24新浪收购分众核心资产引发质疑 2008-12-23Tribune破产揭示传媒业债务危机 2008-12-09澳大利亚电信在华收购两在线广告商 2008-06-30 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年05月04日15:25', 'HRAY'));华友世纪通讯有限公司英文名称：Hurray! Holding Co.  (ADS)总部地点：中国大陆上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：HRAY


A Chinese investor group is stepping up its battle to buy control of Chinese ringtone provider Hurray Holding Co., criticizing the company for what it called a lack of transparency and saying it may revise its offer if a competing bidder emerges.The group is led by Jacky Tung, founder and president of privately held Joy Media Group, and hopes to oust the current management of U.S.-traded Hurray and turn the company into a diversified media platform. The bid marks a rare public battle to win over investors in a takeover of a Chinese company.In a letter to Hurray's board sent Sunday, Mr. Tung said Hurray failed to respond to its April 24 offer to buy 51% of the company for $3.50 per American Depositary share. He said Hurray rejected without explanation the investor group's call to start negotiations and due diligence.The letter also cited Chinese media reports that Hurray was in exclusive talks with another party. 'Despite the fact that we have been discussing our offer with you for the last six months, you did not disclose to us the existence of any competing offer,' the letter said.The existence or origin of a competing offer couldn't be verified. Christina Low, an investor-relations official at Hurray, didn't answer calls to her office or reply to an email Sunday.On Wednesday, Hurray's board of directors disclosed it had received the offer from Mr. Tung's group and 'is evaluating various strategic alternatives in due course to maximize shareholder value.'In an interview Sunday, Mr. Tung said the investor group could 'adjust' the terms of its offer if the competing bid is higher and the investor group were allowed to conduct due diligence on Hurray.Hurray's shares rose sharply on April 27 when The Wall Street Journal first reported the offer by the investor group. The company's shares have since risen as high as $2.28 each from their close of $1.50 before the offer was reported, but remain well below the $3.50 per share offer. The company's shares closed Friday at $1.98, down 0.4%, and giving the company a market capitalization of $43.4 million.The gap between the offer and trading price reflects investor skepticism over the bid's acceptance by Hurray's board as well as the company's small market capitalization, which discourages merger-arbitrage traders from wagering on the outcome of the bid.'If we do not hear from you promptly, we reserve the right to withdraw our offer,' Mr. Tung said in the letter. 'In that event, you could be responsible for the potential losses of your shareholders.'Rick Carew