Exhibit 99.2
Sogou Enters into Definitive Agreement for Going-Private Transaction
BEIJING, China, September 29, 2020 — Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) (“Sogou” or the “Company”), an innovator in search and a leader in China’s internet industry, today announced that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with THL A21 Limited (“THL”), TitanSupernova Limited (“Parent”), and Tencent Mobility Limited (“TML”) (THL, Parent, and TML, collectively, the “Tencent Parties”), each of which is a direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent Holdings Limited (“Tencent”), pursuant to which Parent will be merged with and into the Company in an all-cash transaction (the “Merger”), and the Company will become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent.
Upon the effectiveness of the Merger, outstanding Class A ordinary shares of the Company (each a “Class A Ordinary Share”), including Class A Ordinary Shares represented by American depositary shares (“ADSs”), other than Excluded Shares (as defined in the Merger Agreement) and ADSs representing Excluded Shares, will be cancelled in exchange for the right for the holders thereof to receive $9.00 in cash per share or ADS (the “Merger Consideration”).
Also pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each outstanding and fully-vested option (each, a “Vested Option”) to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares will be cancelled simultaneously with the effectiveness of the Merger in exchange for the holder’s right to receive an amount in cash determined by multiplying (x) the excess, if any, of $9.00 over the applicable exercise price of such Vested Option by (y) the number of Class A Ordinary Shares underlying such Vested Option. Each outstanding option to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares that is not vested (each, an “Unvested Option”) will be cancelled simultaneously with the effectiveness of the Merger in exchange for the holder’s right to receive a restricted cash award (“RCA”) in an amount in cash that is the equivalent of the product of (i) the excess, if any, of $9.00 over the applicable exercise price of such Unvested Option, and (ii) the number of Class A Ordinary Shares underlying such Unvested Option. Outstanding Restricted Shares (as defined in the Merger Agreement), including Restricted Shares represented by ADSs, will be cancelled simultaneously with the effectiveness of the Merger in exchange for the holder’s right to receive an RCA in an amount of $9.00 cash per Restricted Share. RCAs so issued will continue to be subject to the same vesting conditions as were applicable to the corresponding Unvested Options and Restricted Shares.
The Merger Consideration represents a premium of approximately 56.5% to the closing trading price of the ADSs on July 24, 2020, the last trading day prior to the Company’s announcement of its receipt of a “going-private” proposal from Tencent, and a premium of 83.0% to the volume-weighted average price during the last 30 trading days prior to the Company’s receipt of the “going-private” proposal.
The Company’s board of directors (the “Board”), acting upon the unanimous recommendation of a committee of independent and disinterested directors established by the Board (the “Special Committee”), approved the Merger Agreement and the Merger.