Transactions
July 2014
Hong Kong, China
has raised capital from
Hong Kong, China
Background
Wisers Information Limited (“Wisers” or the “Company”) is a fast growing, privately held, Hong Kong, China based information analytics and search solutions provider. The Company developed leading-edge technology and web-based tools for searching, monitoring and analyzing Chinese language content. They achieved commercial success in Hong Kong and Taiwan before penetrating the China mainland market. Early 2013, the shareholders recognized that Wisers was at an inflection point and poised for significant stronger top-line growth as mainland Chinese firms expand globally and multinational corporations become increasingly attentive to the Greater-Chinese market. The shareholders concluded that there could be considerable benefits to either raising growth capital in advance of a later exit or combining the Company with a partner that recognizes Wisers’ significant position in the Chinese Information Services markets and its prospects for continued success. The Board asked the CEO, Denise Che to select strategic advisors to find such partners.
M&A organized a dedicated team to work closely with Management to identify strengths and weaknesses of the Company and to develop materials that would seamlessly communicate Wisers’ story, growth potential, strategy, execution plan and financial projections. Working with Wisers’ Management, M&A identified and approached financial sponsors and strategic parties that we believed could be interested in partnering with the Company. There was significant interest in the company from a wide range of potential partners. M&A leveraged its deep domain expertise, significant knowledge of the global Business Information universe to manage a process that involved parties globally. M&A helped Management frame the Company’s unique value proposition and growth potential and then spent the time with these parties to ensure that they fully understood the story.
The Board was presented with the options of an outright sale to a strategic party or a growth capital investment. After a review of its options, careful consideration, and negotiation, the Board opted to capitalize on the future potential growth opportunities of the Company and pursued the growth capital investment from SAIF Partners, a Hong Kong, China based private equity firm. Wisers expects to be able to execute on its growth plans and create additional value for its current and new shareholders. It will be able to strengthen its content and distribution relationships in China, develop further its offering, notably with the addition of social media monitoring products and build upon its international profile.
M&A worked diligently on the deal to craft materials together, initiate conversations and negotiate alternative offers. M&A’s New York team acted as the liaison between Wisers’ team, based in Hong Kong, and a global list of interested parties. Marlin & Associates acted as strategic and financial advisor to the board, shareholders and managers of Wisers.