What happened Shares of JOYY (NASDAQ: YY) were joyfully higher on Thursday, following a media report that the Chinese social media company could be taken private soon with a rich valuation. After a sizable pop, the stock fell some distance but was still up by nearly 5% in mid-afternoon trading. So what That morning, Reuters published an exclusive report that cited "three people with knowledge of the matter," who claim that JOYY's two top shareholders aim to lead a buyout of the company. Those sources said the pair, chairman David Li and the founder of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, Lei Jun, feel that the Nasdaq-traded tech company is undervalued. Image source: Getty Images. Their plan is to offer anywhere from $75 to $100 per share in a go-private transaction, the sources said. That's at least 33% higher than Wednesday's closing stock price. Apparently the pair is in talks with potential lenders to help them finance the transaction; it seems their goal is to use JOYY's current cash and equivalents position (totaling $4.9 billion) as collateral for a loan. Together, according to JOYY figures cited by Reuters, Li and Lei own 31% of the company. Li alone holds 76% of its voting power. Now what While some investors are clearly getting excited about this potential deal, JOYY's post-pop stock price wasn't anywhere near that apparent $75 per share minimum. This indicates some skepticism that a deal can be agreed to at such a level. Even if it is, a buyout of this magnitude likely won't be effected quickly. Current JOYY shareholders, then, might be better off waiting to see how this story develops. 10 stocks we like better than YYWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and YY wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of August 9, 2021 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source