On June 20th, BEST. US, a Chinese concept stock, announced the latest progress of privatization and has already signed a privatization merger agreement with the buyer group.
According to the agreement, Best Group is expected to complete its privatization process by the third quarter of 2024, delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and transforming into a wholly-owned private company. Zhou Shaoning, founder, chairman, and CEO of Best Group, will continue to serve as the controlling shareholder, while the main shareholder structure remains unchanged.
In November last year, Best Group announced that it had received proposals for privatization offers from multiple parties, including Alibaba and Cainiao. The proposal came from the founder, chairman, and CEO of Best Group, Zhou Shaoning, the company’s Chief Strategy and Investment Officer, Zhou Shaojian, as well as several shareholders of Best Group, including Alibaba and Cainiao.
Best Group was founded in 2007 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017. After experiencing a glorious period of rapid development in the domestic express delivery industry, Best Group’s operations have fallen into a predicament, and since then, Best Group has continuously made “reductions”.
In 2020, Best Group closed its distribution comprehensive service platform, Dian Jia. In 2021, Best Group transferred its domestic express delivery business to Jitu for approximately 6.8 billion yuan. Afterwards, Best Group’s main businesses include express delivery, supply chain, and international operations, positioning itself as a comprehensive intelligent supply chain solution and logistics service provider in China and Southeast Asia.
Baishi Group, which has found a new development rhythm, has not yet emerged from the shadow of losses. In 2022 and 2023, Best Group incurred losses of 1.503 billion yuan and 893 million yuan respectively. However, its performance indicators have improved. In the first quarter of 2024, Best Group’s revenue increased by 13.2% year-on-year, international business revenue increased by 42.6% year-on-year, and cross-border business volume increased by 256.4%.
The stock price performance of Best is not very ideal. For a long time, the market value of Best Group has been sluggish, and in 2022, it received a delisting warning due to its stock price falling to $0.9 per share.
As of the close on June 21st, the stock price of Best Group was $2.72, with a market value of approximately $54.66 million (approximately RMB 390 million). According to its latest financial report data, as of the end of March 2024, Best Group’s cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments amounted to 2.096 billion yuan.
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