Chinadotcom sees Ross buyout closing on Aug 26

chinadotcom said it expects to close its much-delayed purchase of Ross Systems on Aug 26, nearly a year after announcing the takeover.

Software and Internet services company chinadotcom Corp said it expects to close its much-delayed purchase of Ross Systems Inc on Thursday, nearly a year after announcing a takeover of the software maker.

Hong Kong-based chinadotcom said it may change the mix of cash and stock that Ross shareholders might receive to reflect a decline in its own share price.

Chinadotcom is buying Atlanta-based Ross and spinning off its own online assets, including Web portal affiliate hongkong.com Corp, as it sheds its Internet roots and molds itself into a software company.

The original terms of the Ross purchase, announced September 4, called for Ross shareholders to receive $5 in cash and $14 of chinadotcom shares for each of their shares. Those terms valued Ross at the time at $68.9 million.

Chinadotcom said that because its average closing share price had been below $8.50 over the last 10 days, it has the option to increase the amount of cash and decrease the number of shares that Ross shareholders who elected to receive such a mix will receive.