Noah Education Agrees To Be Taken Private In US$107.4 Mln Deal

(RTTNews) - Noah Education Holdings Ltd. (NED) said Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger with Rainbow Education Holding Ltd and its subsidiary Rainbow Education Merger Sub Holding Ltd., pursuant to which Rainbow Education Holding will acquire Noah Education for US$2.85 per ordinary share or US$2.85 per American Depositary Share of Noah Education.

This represents a 26.7% premium over the closing price of US$2.25 per ADS as quoted by the New York Stock Exchange on December 23, 2013, the last trading day prior to the Company's announcement on December 24, 2013 that it had received a "going private" proposal.

The consideration to be paid to holders of ordinary shares and ADSs implies an equity value of Noah Education of about US$107.4 million, on a fully diluted basis.

Noah's board of directors has approved the merger agreement and has resolved to recommend that the company's shareholders vote to authorize and approve the deal

The deal is currently expected to close during the second or third quarter of 2014. If completed, the deal will result in Noah becoming a privately-held company and its ADSs will no longer be listed on the NYSE.