Linklaters advised the Special Committee of the board of directors of Zhangmen Education Inc. (the “Company”), an online education company in China, on its going private transaction proposed by Mr. Yi Zhang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
On July 28, 2023, the Company entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) pursuant to which each outstanding American depositary share (“ADS”) of the Company, other than ADSs representing Excluded Shares (as defined in the Merger Agreement), will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive $0.56 per ADS in cash without interest. The transaction is currently expected to close during the second half of 2023, subject to satisfaction of closing conditions in the Merger Agreement. Upon completion of the transaction, the Company will become a privately held company, and its ADS program will be terminated.
The Linklaters Hong Kong SAR team was led by corporate partner Xiaoxi Lin, who specialises in private equity investments and U.S.-listed company M&A (including privatisations and SPAC transactions), with support from counsel Wuji Zhang. Linklaters’ London-based U.S. tax counsel Omer Harel and New York-based counsel Amanda Gabai advised on tax issues.
Linklaters’ corporate partner Xiaoxi Lin, commented:
“Linklaters is delighted to collaborate on this innovative and strategic project, in order to enable institutional operators to act in compliance with regulatory requirements, significantly limiting DeFi’s risks”
