HNA's Tianhai Investment Announces Dangdang Acquisition; Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Invests RMB 1 billion

BEIJING, April 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tianhai Investment, a subsidiary of HNA Technology, driven by high-tech innovation through AI, big data and cloud has announced that it plans to acquire Dangdang for a tentative RMB 7.5 billion through the issuance of shares and cash payment.

Among this, Tianhai Investment intends to issue 652 million shares worth RMB 4.06 billion to Yu Yu, Li Guoqing, Tianjin Yicheng, Tianjin Qiancheng and Tianjing Weiliang. In addition, Tianhai Investment intends to raise a total of RMB 4.06 billion in matching funds from specific investors including Tianjin T&B Holding Co., Ltd., of which RMB 3.44 billion will be used for cash payments for this transaction.

The completion of the transaction will not involve cash of Tianhai Investment, rather, the issuance of shares to investors. The controller of Tianhai Investment will not have changed with HNA Technology Group remaining the largest shareholder. The acquisition cost is seen as reasonable in comparison to similar e-commerce platform procurements of PetSmart's acquisition of Chewy.com and Walmart's acquisition of JET.com with respective acquisitions exceeding US$ 3 billion. The valuation of the transaction also being lower than the market's previously estimated RMB 80-100 billion.

Dangdang's 2016 and 2017 revenues are approximately RMB 9.55 billion and RMB 10.34 billion respectively, with the corresponding net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company being approximately RMB 133 million and RMB 362 million.

Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Investment Holdings Co., Ltd, the sole shareholder of Tianjin T&B Holding Co., Ltd. will take the lead in the investment, with a maximum investment of RMB 1 billion. The participation of local governments in the capital deployment of HNA will undoubtedly bring new vision to Tianhai Investment's future development. The company's current cooperation partners include Dingfeng Asset, Shiling Capital, Cinda Securities and the Chengdu Municipal Government based on the 'Digital Belt and Road Technology and Innovation Industrial Fund'.

In 2016, Tianhai Investment acquired world-leading technology and supply chain service provider Ingram Micro. After the Dangdang acquisition is completed, Ingram Micro and Dangdang are expected to form deep integration in the industry chain and produce synergies in various areas to capitalize on Dangdang's 20 plus years of e-commerce operation experience and rich data scene.

Ingram Micro is not only the world's largest IT distributor, but also the largest book distributor in the US, with many Amazon products delivered to customers by Ingram Micro. After the integration, Dangdang will expand 3C products through Ingram Micro's global supply chain, to expand its business scope and revenue scale. Ingram Micro is able to complete the B2B2C layout through Dangdang's upstream and downstream industrial chain to further develop the domestic market. Moreover, Ingram Micro's 150 global logistics centers and Dangdang's dozens of logistics centers in the country will quickly realize the complementarity of warehousing and logistics areas and capabilities and gain greater scale advantages.

About Tianhai Investment
Tianhai Investment, a subsidiary of HNA Technology Group, is a listed company in the Shanghai A-shares market, with a focus on high technology in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data and cloud. Backed by Fortune 500 parent company, HNA Group, with its rich industrial resources and financial strengths driven by industry, data and capital, it is committed to become China's leading, world-class high-tech innovation enterprise. Its subsidiaries include the largest IT product distributor and supply chain service provider, Ingram Micro. For more information visit, http://www.tianhaiinvestment.com/EN/index.aspx.

About Dangdang

Founded in November 1999, comprehensive Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing with main product categories of household merchandise, cosmetics, digital, home appliances, books, audio, and dozens of clothing and child categories. For more information visit, http://www.dangdang.com

SOURCE Tianhai Investment