Kingdee International, a Shenzhen-based software firm, announced that an International Business Machine and Lehman Brothers venture capital alliance bought a 7.7 per cent stake for HK$132 million.
In the first major acquisition for the US$180 million China Investment Fund, it bought 35 million existing shares from Zhao Yong, a Kingdee non-executive director at HK$3.7885 apiece, the software firm said.
IBM and Lehman will each have a 3.85 per cent stake in Kingdee after the deal and both will be invited to appoint a director to its board.
Shares in Kingdee, which resumed trading yesterday after being suspended on May 28, jumped as much as 13.8 per cent to HK$8 yesterday morning before sinking to close 1.13 per cent lower at HK$6.95. The shares surged 142 per cent from a year ago.
'Mr Zhao, IBM and Lehman Brothers have reached agreement in February so there is a discount in the offer price,' said Kingdee chairman Robert Xu Shaochun. In February, the shares ranged between HK$4.224 and HK$5.471, or 11.49 per cent to 44.41 per cent more than the deal price.
China Investment Fund, which was launched in October last year, 'will not rule out the possibility to invest more in Kingdee in the future', said its managing partner Charles Wu.