YI - 111 stock rises 15% on co-founders' offer to take Chinese online drug retailer private

Online drug retailer 111 ( NASDAQ: YI ) said its board received an unsolicited preliminary non-binding proposal letter to acquire the company to take it private.

The Chinese company received the proposal from its Co-Founder and Co-Chairman Gang Yu,  Co-Founder, Co-Chairman and CEO  Junling Liu, and Shanghai Guosheng Capital Management (the Sponsor, and together with the co-founders, the Buyer group) to acquire all of outstanding Class A ordinary shares, including Class A shares represented by American depositary shares (ADSs, each representing two class A shares), which are not currently owned by the Buyer Group in a going-private transaction for US$1.83 per class A share or US$3.66 per ADS in cash.

The buyers intends to fund the transaction with equity capital. Equity financing is expected to be provided in the form of rollover equity in 111 and cash contributions from Shanghai Guosheng or its affiliates, the company said in a Sept. 9 press release.

The board said it has not yet had the opportunity to review the proposal and cannot assure that any definitive offer will be received or executed, the company noted.

YI +14.75% to $3.50 premarket Sept. 9

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