IBM, Lehman Brothers Buy Stake in Firm

IBM Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are paying 132 million Hong Kong dollars (US$17 million; euro12.65 million) for a 7.7 percent stake in the shares of Chinese software company Kingdee International, the Chinese company said Monday in a statement.

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IBM Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are paying 132 million Hong Kong dollars (US$17 million; euro12.65 million) for a 7.7 percent stake in the shares of Chinese software company Kingdee International, the Chinese company said Monday in a statement.

Kingdee International Software Group Co. Ltd., based in Shenzhen, China, also said it signed an agreement last week to forge a "global alliance" with IBM to re-engineer Kingdee's products and sell them domestically and internationally.

The 7.7 percent stake will be divided equally between IBM and Lehman Brothers, with each holding a 3.85 percent share.

The company said the shares will be sold at a unit price of HK$3.7885 each, a discount of 46 percent to a trading price of HK$7.03 on May 28, when trade was suspended pending the announcement of the sale. Kingdee shares resumed trading Monday.

Midday Monday, the Kingdee stock price was at HK$7.10 after trading as high as HK$8.00.