Major online games provider to sell over one third of its stake in Sina

Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, the largest online games provider on the Chinese mainland, announced on Tuesday that it would sell 3.7 million of its shares in Sina, a major Chinese internet portal, to raise nearly 100 million U.S. dollars.

Zhuge Hui, the spokesman for Shanda, said that his company had agreed to sell the shares to Citigroup Global Market Inc. for 99.1 million U.S. dollars. The transaction will be completed on Thursday, he added.

After the sale, Shanda, whose shares have fallen 66 percent in the past two years, will continue to hold more than 6.1 million Sina shares, 11.4 percent of the total share capital Sina has issued, according to a statement released by Sina Corp.

The sale will help Shanda finance payment for its convertible bonds that will expire next year, according to market sources quoted by the South China Morning Post on Tuesday.

Shanda acquired a 19.5-percent stake in Sina in February 2005, making it Sina's largest shareholder.

Source: Xinhua