YY's Stock Drops After Investor Group Withdraws Buyout Bid

The U.S.-listed shares of YY Inc. dropped 3% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the China-based social platform said an investor group has withdrawn its proposal to buy the company because of unfavorable market conditions. The investor group is led by YY Chairman June Lei and Chief Executive David Xueling Li. Separately, YY said it set a new program to repurchase up to $200 million worth of its stock or convertible debt over the next year. When YY received the going-private proposal on July 9, 2015, the investor group said it would pay $68.50 in cash for each American depositary share outstanding, which represented a 17% premium to the July 8 closing price of $58.35. Since then, the stock has tumbled 35% through Tuesday. The S&P 500 has gained 1.4% over the same time.