TTFLY: Chinese online travel giant Ctrip is in talks with potential investors about funding its delisting from Nasdaq because of rising U.S.-China tensions and the coronavirus-driven hit to its business, sources told Reuters.

The management of China's largest online travel firm, with a current market value of US$16.5 billion, has reached out to a number of financial and strategic investors including private equity firms and domestic tech companies about joining a take-private deal, said four people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Ctrip's move comes as U.S.-listed Chinese companies face tightened scrutiny and more strict audit requirements from U.S. regulators, while geopolitical tensions escalate between the world's two largest economies. Those have prompted a number of Chinese companies to abandon a New York listing and move instead to an exchange closer to home.

Ctrip's delisting discussions, which have not been reported previously, are at an early stage and are subject to change, cautioned the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public.

Ctrip, also known as Trip.com Group Ltd, declined to comment.

There have been six announced take-privates of U.S.-listed Chinese companies worth US$9.1 billion so far this year, showed Refinitiv data. The average premiums paid by buyers, however, almost halved to 22% from 42% last year.

Just on Monday, China's Sogou Inc said shareholder Tencent Holdings made a preliminary offer to buy the rest of the web search firm it did not already control, in a deal that valued the company at about US$3.5 billion.

Deals being discussed include a delisting of search engine giant Baidu Inc, Reuters reported in May.

Both Ctrip and Baidu have held preliminary talks with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing about a possible secondary listing, Reuters reported in January.

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