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Privatisation of Shanda Games takes another turn as a member resigns its special committee

Another twist in the tale

Privatisation of Shanda Games takes another turn as a member resigns its special committee

Sometimes I wonder if I'm taking a too westernised approach to the flexible financial arrangements of some Chinese game companies.

Conversely, there have been some pretty strange deals over the past 12 months.

And the attempt to take NASDAQ-floated company Shanda Games (NASDAQ:GAME) private continues to surprise.

This week, the five companies who made up the original consortium - which put together the $1.9 billion-valued deal - pulled out, replaced by three new companies.

Randomly, one of them is a textile manufacturer.

And then there were two

Now comes news that one of the members of the special committee of independent directors considering the deal isn't that independent.

Apparently, Andy Lin is the CEO of China Universal Asset Management, which has links to Orient Finance; one of the new companies in the consortium.

For that reason, he's had to resign, meaning there are now only two members in the special committee.

As for when the decision will be made, there's still no guidance, with Shanda Games warning that it hasn't made any decision and that there can be no assurance the consortium will even make a definitive offer.


Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.