Zhejiang Shanghai-Hangzhou (00576) announced that on November 24, 2023, the company entered into a joint venture agreement with China Merchants Highway (a related party at the company's subsidiary level), according to which the contracting parties agreed to establish a joint venture in China for the acquisition. On the same day, this includes the company entering into equity acquisition agreements with various parties on China Merchants Highway relating to the acquisition. Once established, the joint venture company will act as the acquiring entity in the acquisition, and therefore must assume all rights and responsibilities as a transferee under the share acquisition agreement. After the acquisition is completed, the joint venture company will hold 60% of the shares of the target company Hunan Yonglan Expressway Co., Ltd. The cost of 60% of the target company's shares was approximately RMB 3.472 billion, and the total amount payable by the joint venture in connection with the acquisition was approximately RMB 2,673 billion.
According to the joint venture agreement, the company and China Merchants Highway each agreed to invest RMB 1,341.6 billion, each accounting for 50% of the total capital injection of the joint venture company. The total capital injection of the joint venture will be RMB 2,683.2 billion, while the registered capital of the joint venture will be RMB 100 million and the contractors' investment balance will be included in the capital reserve.
According to reports, the target company is mainly engaged in the operation and management of the Yonglan Expressway in Hunan Province. As of the date of publication of this announcement, Liantai Transport owned about 79.52% of the target company's shares, and the remaining shareholders owned about 20.48% of the shares.