Exceed Co. Gets Proposal From CEO-led Consortium To Be Taken Private

(RTTNews) - Hong Kong-based Exceed Company Ltd. (EDS) said Monday said that it has received a preliminary, non-binding proposal from a consortium led by its chief executive officer to be taken private for $1.72 per share in cash. The sportswear company's shares are gaining more than 7 percent in the regular trading session.

Exceed designs, develops and engages in wholesale of footwear, apparel and accessories under its own brand, Xidelong, in China. The company noted that the buyers' consortium includes its chairman and chief executive officer Shuipan Lin and his affiliates - including Tiancheng Int'l Investment Group Limited, HK Haima Group Limited, Wisetech Holdings Limited, Windtech Holdings Limited and RichWise International Investment Group Limited.

The consortium has offered to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Exceed not currently owned by them for $1.72 per ordinary share in cash, as part of a going-private transaction. The offer price represents a 15 percent premium to Exceed's closing stock price of $1.49 on Friday, August 16, 2013.

As of August 17, 2013, the consortium members owned about 66.5 percent of the total outstanding ordinary shares of the company.

In response, Exceed's board has formed a special committee consisting of independent non-executive directors Jin Jichun, Chen Yea-Mow and Pang Xiaozhong, to consider this proposal. Jin will be the chairman of the special committee, which will retain a financial advisor and legal counsel to assist it in its work.

Exceed's board has cautioned the company's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the board has just received the non-binding proposal from the consortium. The board also said that no decisions have been made by the special committee with respect to the company's response to the proposal.

In Monday's regular trading session on the Nasdaq, EDS is trading at $1.60, up $0.11 or 7.38 percent on a volume of 6,280 shares.