fung_derf
12 years ago
China-based Zhongpin Inc. (HOGS) has agreed to be taken private by a group that includes its chief executive in deal that values the meat and food processor at about $503 million. CEO Xianfu Zhu, along with Golden Bridge Holdings Ltd., will offer shareholders $13.50 a share in cash, a 24% premium over Friday's closing price and a 47% premium over the closing price March 26, which is the last trading day prior to the company's announcement that it had received a going private proposal from Mr. Zhu. Under the terms of the deal, shares owned by Mr. Zhu and others who are part of an equity contribution agreement will be contributed to Golden Bridge immediately prior to the effective time of the merger. Mr. Zhu owns more than 17% of the company according to FactSet, while the entire buyout group collectively holds about 26%. The $13.50-a-share offer by Mr. Zhu was first unveiled in March. At the time, based on the number of shares outstanding, the offer valued the China-based pork processor at about $520 million. Zhongpin had said its board would form a special committee to review the offer. Following the offer's announcement earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission froze the assets of six Chinese citizens and one British Virgin Islands entity charged with insider trading in shares of Zhongpin. The SEC's complaint alleged the seven defendants reaped more than $9 million by trading in Zhongpin ahead of the announcement about Mr. Zhu's offer. On Monday, the company said its board had approved the merger, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee. The current deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Golden Bridge intends to finance the merger through a combination of an equity commitment of $85 million by China Wealth Growth Fund I L.P. and a $320,000,000 term loan facility from China Development Bank Corp.'s Hong Kong Branch. Zhongpin, which specializes in pork and pork products, vegetables, and fruits, has a distribution network in China covering 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and including 3,447 retail outlets as of the end of September. Zhongpin's export markets include Europe, Hong Kong, and other countries in Asia. Shares of Zhongpin came under pressure last year as it, like a handful of its Chinese counterparts, battled claims on financial blogs of alleged accounting missteps. Zhongpin has previously denied those allegations and stressed that the information contained in its filings with the SEC is accurate. Shares closed at $10.86 Friday and were inactive in recent premarket trading. The stock has climbed 27% so far this year.
ScovilleUnits
13 years ago
Special Committee to Evaluate Non-binding Going Private Proposal
8-K... http://xml.10kwizard.com/filing_raw.php?repo=tenk&ipage=8196891
Friday , April 13, 2012 06:00ET
BEIJING and CHANGGE, China, April 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. ("Zhongpin" or the "Company," NASDAQ: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced that it has established a special committee of its board of directors (the "Special Committee") to consider the preliminary, non-binding proposal received from Zhongpin's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Xianfu Zhu, on March 27, 2012 to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock not currently owned by him in a going private transaction (the "Zhu Proposal").
The Special Committee is composed of the following independent directors of the Company: Mr. Raymond Leal, Mr. Xiaosong Hu, and Mr. Yaoguo Pan. The Special Committee has retained Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as its legal advisor and intends to retain independent financial advisors to assist it in its evaluation of the Zhu Proposal and any additional proposal that may be made by Mr. Zhu and his affiliates, if any.
No decisions have been made by the Special Committee with respect to the Company's response to the Zhu Proposal and there can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed, or that the Zhu Proposal or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.
samsamsamiam
13 years ago
SEC Freezes Accounts of Six Chinese Citizens and One Offshore Entity Charged with Insider Trading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-54
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has obtained a court-ordered freeze of the assets of six Chinese citizens and one British Virgin Islands entity charged with insider trading in Zhongpin Inc., a China-based pork processor whose shares trade in the U.S.
Additional Materials
SEC Complaint
The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on April 4, alleges the defendants reaped more than $9 million by trading in Zhongpin ahead of a March 27 announcement of a proposal to take the company private. The complaint names as defendants one entity, Prestige Trade Investments Ltd., and six individuals, Siming Yang, Caiyin Fan, Shui Chong (Eric) Chang, Biao Cang, Jia Wu, and Ming Ni. The SEC alleged that Yang formed Prestige in January and funded its U.S. brokerage account in March with $29 million transferred from a Hong Kong bank.
According to the SEC’s complaint, the seven defendants bought substantial quantities of common stock and call options in Zhongpin between March 14 and March 26. Zhongpin’s stock price jumped 21.8% on March 27 when the company publicly announced that its Chairman and CEO Xianfu Zhu had made a non-binding offer to acquire all of Zhongpin’s outstanding stock at $13.50 a share, a 46% premium over the previous day’s closing price.
“The defendants in this action – all with seemingly limited resources - suddenly and inexplicably purchased more than $20 million in Zhongpin securities just before an important public announcement,” said Merri Jo Gillette, Director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office. “The SEC’s swift action to secure a judicial freeze order prevented millions of dollars from moving offshore.”
The SEC alleges that the purchases of Zhongpin stock and options were inconsistent with the defendants’ financial situations and prior investment behavior. In particular:
The defendants’ trades made up a significant portion of the trading in Zhongpin between March 14 and March 26. Prestige’s purchases alone represented about 41% of the common stock trading in this period.
Only one of the defendants had traded in Zhongpin before March 14.
For most of the individual defendants, the purchases of Zhongpin securities equaled or exceeded their stated annual income and represented a significant portion of their net worth.
Yang identified himself to his broker as an accountant in China with an annual income of $52,500 and a net worth of less than $250,000, when at the time he was a research analyst with a New York–based registered investment adviser.
Each of the defendants placed at least some of their trades from computer networks and hardware that other defendants also used to place trades.
The SEC alleges that the defendants violated federal anti-fraud laws, namely Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition to the emergency relief, the SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and financial penalties. The emergency court order that the SEC obtained on April 4 on an ex parte basis froze defendants’ assets held in U.S. brokerage accounts, grants expedited discovery and prohibits the defendants from destroying evidence.
Jedediah B. Forkner, Marlene B. Key and John E. Kustusch in the Chicago Regional Office conducted the SEC’s investigation, which is continuing. Timothy S. Leiman will lead the SEC’s litigation effort.
The Commission thanks the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for their assistance in this matter.
###
For more information about this enforcement action, contact:
Robert J. Burson
Associate Regional Director
SEC Chicago Regional Office
(312) 353-7428
###
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-54.htm
ScovilleUnits
13 years ago
Oink, Oink...HOGS is squealing this morning
Zhongpin Announces Receipt of Non-Binding Going Private Proposal from its Chairman at $13.50 Per Share
Tuesday , March 27, 2012 09:06ET
CHANGGE and BEIJING, China, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) ("Zhongpin" or the "Company"), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced that its Board of Directors has received a preliminary, non-binding proposal from its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Xianfu Zhu ("Mr. Zhu"), which stated that Mr. Zhu intends to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock not currently owned by him in a going private transaction at a proposed price of $13.50 per share in cash. Mr. Zhu currently beneficially owns approximately 17.5% of the Company's common stock. A copy of the proposal letter is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The Company's Board of Directors intends to form a special committee of independent directors to consider this proposal and any additional proposal that may be made by Mr. Zhu and his affiliates, if any. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that a transaction with Mr. Zhu or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.
http://xml.10kwizard.com/filing_raw.php?repo=tenk&ipage=8158904
fung_derf
13 years ago
Chinese Asset Bubbles: The IMF warned that China's biggest commercial banks face systemic risks if a combination of credit, property, currency and yield curve shocks that could be withstood in isolation were to occur together. However, the IMF said China can contain these dangers by freeing up financial markets to give investors, commercial banks and the central bank greater autonomy from government control. While not predicting an imminent disaster, the IMF made clear China needed to act quickly because it is vulnerable to destabilizing asset price booms. The fund said it ran a stress test on 17 banks that account for 83 percent of China's commercial banking system. The test showed banks' non-performing-loan ratios rose by at least one percentage point for each one-percentage-point drop in gross domestic product. Reuters.com
fung_derf
13 years ago
LOL! Well, considering you responded to a post of mine that is three months old, I'd have to say your point is moot.
When I posted that, the stock was over $10. It nosedived from there to under $6.70 immediately after.
The short term trend may be decent, all the way to just over $12, however, it really needs to get above $12.50 before I would start feeling good about it.
I bought this thinking it was a legit company. My question isn't so much with the company itself as it is the entire Chinese market that was built up way too quickly. Short cuts taken aren't a good thing.
FWIW, I still own some of this at a much higher price. JMO, of course.
Pro-Life
13 years ago
Zhongpin to Attend Oppenheimer 11th Annual Consumer Conference on June 28-29, 2011
Date : 06/23/2011 @ 5:00AM
Source : PR Newswire
Stock : Zhongpin Inc. (MM) (HOGS)
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=48175145&symbol=HOGS
Zhongpin Inc. ("Zhongpin", Nasdaq: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced that it will meet with institutional investors at the Oppenheimer 11th Annual Consumer Conference in Boston on June 28 and 29, 2011.
During the conference, Zhongpin will present and attend one-on-one meetings with investors. Mr. Sterling Song, Investor Relations Manager, will represent the company.
The conference will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
If you are interested in attending this conference and meeting with Zhongpin, please contact your Oppenheimer sales representative.
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Penny Roger$
13 years ago
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