NEW YORK (AP) -- Electric motor maker Harbin Electric Inc. said Friday that its chairman and CEO is backing his commitment to take the company private along with a private equity fund.
Chairman and CEO Tianfu Yang has said he plans to team up with Abax Global Capital to buy the rest of the company. Harbin said Friday that China Development Bank Corp. agreed to provide a $400 million term loan to fund the proposed purchase of the China company.
Yang, Abax and their affiliates own nearly 41 percent of Harbin's stock, and in October, Yang and Abax said they would acquire the remaining stock for $24 per share. The proposal then represented a premium of 20 percent over the company's share price. However they have not made a formal offer.
Harbin's board has formed a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the proposal.
In afternoon trading, Harbin stock rose 98 cents, or 6.3 percent, to $16.46.
