US-listed Chinese security company Qihoo 360 to be taken private in a deal worth about $9.3B
Chinese tech company Qihoo 360 latest to be taken private — Qihoo 360 Technology Co (QIHU.N) said it agreed to be acquired by a group of investors in a deal valued at about $9.3 billion …
Context & Ripple Effects
This deal closes the loop on the CEO-led $9 billion buyout offer floated in June 2015: the investor group has now agreed terms at about $9.3 billion, taking the NYSE-listed security firm private. It lands amid a cluster of similar moves — within weeks, Baidu's CEO and iQiyi's CEO offered to buy out Baidu's 80.5% stake in the streaming platform, and years later Weibo's chairman was reportedly in talks with a state investor on a $20B-plus take-private.
The arc runs both ways: while incumbents exit US exchanges, new entrants find thin demand there — Zhihu closed its US trading debut down 11% despite raising $522.5M. Together they frame this buyout as part of a broader repricing of what US public markets are worth to Chinese tech companies.
First-order effects
- Public shareholders of Qihoo 360 Technology Co are cashed out by the investor group, ending the company's run as a US-listed equity and removing it from NYSE reporting and scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- The completed buyout gives other controlling shareholders of US-listed Chinese firms a priced template: Baidu's executives moved within two months on iQiyi, and Weibo's later take-private talks brought a state investor into the buyer group.
- With supply shrinking on one side and debuts pricing poorly on the other — Zhihu's 11% first-day drop being the marker — US exchanges lose their pull for Chinese issuers on both ends.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, US-listed Chinese tech migrates toward private or domestic-Chinese ownership, shifting governance away from US market oversight and toward state-aligned capital structures like the one reportedly forming around Weibo.
The trend: Chinese tech companies are systematically exiting or avoiding US public markets, replacing American shareholder bases with private investor groups and, increasingly, state-linked capital.