HONG KONG and BEIJING, May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited (Stock Code: 00268.HK) and JD.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: JD), the largest online direct sales company in China, today jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which JD.com will invest HK$1.3 billion (approximately US$170 million) in cash in consideration for an approximately 10% stake in Kingdee. In addition, Kingdee and JD.com plan to enter a strategic partnership under which they will collaborate on providing small and medium-sized enterprises with integrated ERP solutions through a cloud service.
The purchase price will be HK$4.60 per share, representing the average closing price of Kingdee's shares for the 15 trading days prior to the signing of the agreement.
"We are delighted to be partnering with JD.com, which has developed industry-leading proprietary e-commerce and logistics technologies," said Shaochun Xu, Kingdee Chairman and CEO. "This is a key milestone in Kingdee's development history. We will take this opportunity to leverage both companies' large customer and user bases, accelerate the development of Kingdee's cloud offering and expand our one-stop shop cloud services. Collaboration with JD.com will further allow Kingdee to take our enterprise solutions to the next level by integrating JD.com's e-commerce and logistics vertical solutions. This planned strategic partnership will position us to provide leading cloud-based ERP solutions and continue to lead the enterprise mobile Internet market for years to come. "
"As one of the leading providers of enterprise solutions in China with a large SME customer base and worldwide reputation for excellence, Kingdee is an ideal partner to take advantage of JD.com's advanced e-commerce and logistics IT solutions," said Richard Liu, Founder and CEO of JD.com. "We are excited to explore the integration of our best-in-class e-commerce and logistics systems with Kingdee's leading ERP solutions, and migrate an integrated package to an enterprise cloud solution to better serve the growing demand in China's enterprise solutions market."
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015, subject to customary approvals and closing conditions.
About Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited
Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited ("Kingdee" or the "Group"; Stock Code: 00268.HK) was founded in 1993 and headquartered in Shenzhen, PRC. With "Let Data Creates Values" as its mission, 'Build the Biggest Enterprise Big Data Cloud in China' as its vision and 'Walk on ZHENGDAO (right track) and Walk by WANGDAO (noble way)' as its core values, "User-first, Small, Beauty, Fast" product and service belief, the Group provides software products and Cloud services for over four million corporates, hospitals and government organizations and for over fifty million users worldwide. Kingdee was named as the leader in the SME ERP market in China for the tenth consecutive year.
About JD.com, Inc
JD.com, Inc. is the largest online direct sales company in China. The Company strives to offer consumers the best online shopping experience. Through its content-rich and user-friendly website jd.com and mobile applications, JD.com offers a wide selection of authentic products at competitive prices and delivers products in a speedy and reliable manner. The Company has the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China. JD.com operated 7 fulfillment centers and a total of 143 warehouses in 43 cities, and in total 3,539 delivery stations and pickup stations in 1,961 counties and districts across China, staffed by its own employees.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this announcement, as well as JD.com's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. JD.com may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about JD.com's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in JD.com's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and JD.com undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
