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Mar. 28 (NBD) -- China's leading health care service provider iKang Healthcare Group, Inc. (iKang) signed the final agreement and merger plan on Monday, which signals its official acceptance of the privatization bid from the investment consortium backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd after two years of stalemate following a takeover war.

According to the announcement from iKang, the Group will sign an agreement with IK Healthcare Investment Limited and IK Healthcare Merger Limited, two subsidiaries wholly owned by one or several companies of Yunfeng Capital and Alibaba Group. 

IK Investment will acquire all stakes in the company in cash for 41.20 U.S. dollars per Class A or Class C common share or 20 U.S. dollars per ADS. The acquisition price is 15 percent higher than the ADS closing price of 17.92 U.S. dollars per share. 

When the merger agreement takes effect, IK Investment's subsidiary IK Merger will be incorporated into iKang, which will also be a wholly-owned subsidiary of IK Investment. As iKang becomes a privately held company, it will quit Nasdaq Stock Market.

The privatization is estimated to be completed in the third quarter of 2018 under satisfied conditions.

This is a new move for Alibaba in the healthcare sector, following its investment in Wandong Medical Technology's Wanlicloud, collaboration with Yuyue Medical as well as strategic cooperative partnership with DIAN Diagnostics.

The health management service provider iKang first listed in the Nasdaq Stock Market on 9 April, 2014 and it reportedly planned to delist for privatization one year later. 

While iKang went public in the U.S., China's private health examination service market saw great changes.

In 2014, two of the three major health service providers - Ciming Health Checkup Group and Meinian Onehealth Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. - signed an agreement under which the former was merged into the latter. Though iKang reported the acquisition as a suspected monopolistic conduct to the Ministry of Commerce of China, the deal was still successfully settled last year. The duopoly competition pattern took shape in the market.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn