According to people familiar with the matter, the Chinese private equity firm, Bloomberg Trustar Capital, is considering selling its stake in telecommunications software and IT services provider AsiaInfo Technologies Ltd.
The people said that the company's affiliate is working with advisers on a possible divestment of its holding in Hong Kong-listed AsiaInfo, and asked not to be identified as the information is private. Trustar is AsiaInfo's biggest shareholder, controlling 23.1% of the company's shares, according to its latest annual report.
The people said that the stake in AsiaInfo attracted interest from potential suitors. A buyer of the private equity firm's shares could make a bid for the whole company and relist it in China, one of the people said.
The private equity firm could decide not to sell, as the discussions are at an early stage. A representative for Trustar didn't want to say anything. AsiaInfo said the company will disclose information in a timely manner, in accordance with regulations and wouldn't say anything further.
As of Monday s close to Hong Kong, AsiaInfo has a market value of around HK $11.4 billion $1.5 billion, giving Trustar's stake a value of $331 million, according to Bloomberg calculations. The company was taken private by Trustar and then called Citic Capital Partners, and delisted from the Nasdaq in 2014, according to AsiaInfo's website. It raised $119 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering in 2018.
AsiaInfo was founded in 1993 and offers telecom software products and related services, according to the website. The company provides cloud and network management services, including customer relationship management, billing and accounting, big data, Internet of Things and 5 G network intelligence products.
In the first six months of this year, AsiaInfo had revenue of about 3.1 billion yuan $459 million, which is 14.5% higher than the same period in 2021, according to AsiaInfo. In the first half, the company reported net income of 192 million yuan, a decline of 31% from the year before.
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