China’s e-commerce company JD.com’s fully-owned subsidiary Suqian Hanbang has agreed to subscribe to 73 million newly issued shares of travel service provider Caissa Tosun Development Co.Ltd (SZSE: 000796) for about RMB 450 million (USD 63.5 million), according to Caissa’s filing on Saturday.
Caissa, which offers various outbound and inbound tour products, plans to price each share at RMB 6.16, which marks a 20% discount against the average closing price of its stock in the past 20 trading days. Ahead of the disclosure, Caissa closed at RMB 9.35 on Friday, up 10% from the closing price on Thursday.
The investment will allow JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) to hold a 7.37% of stake in Caissa. Other four investors, including private equity fund manager Wenyuan Fund, will also participate in this private placement, which will allow Caissa to raise about RMB 1.16 billion, said the company.
The move also marks JD.com’s foray into the tourism industry, in a moment where the market is being hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.