The $57 million bid to buy out local rival Best by Cainiao, Alibaba Group Holding’s logistics spin-off, ahead of a planned $1 billion listing in Hong Kong will enhance its overseas presence amid a boom in cross-border e-commerce, according to analysts, reports the South China Morning Post. Alibaba and its logistic arm Cainiao are part of a consortium that has made a “preliminary non-binding proposal” to buy out Best, offering to purchase all outstanding shares in the company for $0.144 per ordinary share, or $2.88 per American Depositary Share. Alibaba and Cainiao are existing investors in Best.
The offer for the New York-listed company, made public by Best on Monday, would be worth about RMB 415 million ($57 million), based on 397.6 million ordinary shares outstanding disclosed in August. However, Best said that there is no guarantee of a definitive offer or a finalised transaction at this stage.
Founded in 2007, Best is a big player in the logistics sector in China and Southeast Asia. After selling its express delivery business in China to rival J&T Global Express for around 6.8 billion yuan in 2021, Best has since relied on freight, supply chain management and its global logistics services as its three main revenue streams.
