The price for buying 91 Wireless of NetDragon has adjusted to an aggregate amount of US$1.85 billion, not $1.9 billion as announced one month ago, according to the latest statement by Baidu. That reads it’s due to “the conditional declaration of a special dividend in the aggregate amount of approximately US$52.06 million by 91 Wireless to its existing shareholders”.
Baidu will pay for the 57.4 percent stake owned by NetDragon and the remaining shares from other shareholders in cash.
Joe Hu, current co-CEO of 91, reportedly will be the chief executive of the new 91. Baidu said it would continue to operate under its existing management team as an independent company. But we heard that the other co-CEO, Chen Hongzhen, will stay at NetDragon.
91 Wireless, located in Fu Zhou in Southeast China, won’t move to Beijing where Baidu is headquartered. Baidu expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2013