Qihoo 360 to be taken private in deal valued at more than $9bn

Internet-security firm Qihoo 360 Technology has announced it will follow through on plans to go private in a deal valued at around US$9.3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. Qihoo Chairman Zhou Hongyi will lead a consortium of buyers to pay US$77 per US-listed depository share, constituting a 17% premium to the level shares were trading at before an initial bid in June. Qihoo was the biggest in a wave of buyout offers made in the middle of the summer’s stock rally with the intention to list on the mainland that backfired when China’s equities market then proceeded to implode.