7 Days Inn to delist in a month

One of the largest budget hotel chains in China is delisting from the United States stock markets and received $120 million in overseas investments on Wednesday to withdraw within a month, according to China Business News.

Based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, 7 Days Inn made its decision to go private at the end of June.

In September, the company was valued at $635 million. Co-chairmen He Boquan and Zheng Nanyan with private equity investment firms the Carlyle Group and Sequoia Capital China then made an offer to acquire all of the company's outstanding shares to take it private. Their initial offer was for $4.20 per share and $12.70 per American depository share. They raised their offer to $4.60 per share and $13.80 per ADS, pushing the value of the company's stock up to $688 million.

Since 2010, 7 Days Inn had lost half its value before receiving the joint offer to go private. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2009, raising a total of $111.1 million.

The hotel chain said that it plans to add mid- and high-end hotels to diversify its portfolio. It currently has 1,500 outlets and 1,800 contracted hotels throughout the country. With 400 new outlets added per year, 7 Days Inn would surpass the Home Inns Group's express motel branch in the number of outlets by the end of this year or early next year, claims an unnamed senior manager at the company.

As of March 31, Home Inns Group's three brands - Home Inn, Yitel and Motel 168 - have 1,859 outlets in 266 cities in China, including 818 directly managed and 1,041 franchised properties.