CHINA Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd. and SORL Auto Parts Inc. became the latest U.S.-listed Chinese companies to receive buyout offers, reviving this year’s record flow of going-private deals.

    American depository receipts (ADRs) of China Ming Yang, a maker of wind turbines, fell 4.1 percent to US$2.13 in New York on Tuesday. Chairman Zhang Chuanwei, who holds 33 percent, proposed to buy the remaining shares in the company that he doesn’t already own for US$2.51 in cash per ADR. SORL Auto rose 4.3 percent to US$2.43 after chairman Zhang Xiaoping offered to buy a 41.2 percent stake for US$2.84 per share.

    An all-time high of 34 Chinese companies trading on American exchanges have received privatization offers this year, the majority of them in the first six months as stocks on the Shanghai Composite Index surged and made it attractive for companies to shift their listings to China.

    While the takeover bids slowed since June amid a mainland selloff, they are now coming back as investors and executives seek to take advantage of higher onshore valuations as markets stabilize.

    “As long as there are woefully undervalued Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges, there will be managements seeking the buyout opportunity,” said Peter Halesworth, founder of Heng Ren Investments LP., whose firm invests in small-cap Chinese stocks. “The biggest problem is the ridiculously low valuations being proposed to U.S. investors.”

    China Ming Yang, which has a market value of US$328 million, has advanced 13 percent since an almost two-year a low in September. Chairman Zhang’s offer represents a premium of about 20 percent to the ADRs’ volume-weighted average closing price over the past 30 trading days, according to the statement. The market capitalization of SORL Auto Parts, a maker of car parts, has been cut to US$46.9 million from US$85.3 million in April as the stock tumbled.

    This year’s going-private deals have on average offered investors a 17 percent premium to the firms’ mean trading prices prior to their announcements, the lowest since 2005. (SD-Agencies)