ADRs End Higher; 21Vianet Rises, Renren Declines

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 1.84% to 146.96. The European index increased 2.01% to 145.37, the Asian index advanced 1.5% to 154.55, the Latin American index rose 1.45% to 217.15 and the emerging markets index increased 1.32% to 263.28. 21Vianet Group Inc. (VNET, VNET.LN) was among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

ADRs of 21Vianet rose 9.7% to $21.85 after the China-based data-center company said its board received a nonbinding proposal to take it from an investor group that includes Chairman and Chief Executive Josh Sheng Chen. The investor group is proposing to acquire the shares it doesn't already own for $23 an ADR, a premium of 16% to Tuesday's U.S. closing price.

ADRs of Renren Inc. (RENN) fell 2.9% to $3.99 after the company, once touted as the Facebook of China, said it received a management buyout offer valuing the social-networking firm at about $1.4 billion. Chief Executive Joseph Chen and Chief Operating Officer James Jian Liu proposed to acquire the shares they don't already own for $4.20 per ADR, a 2.2% premium over Tuesday's U.S. closing price. Renren, one of a number of Chinese social-media companies that sprang up a decade ago, has since been eclipsed by rivals such as Weibo Corp. and the social-networking services owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

One of three key research and development executives at AstraZeneca PLC (AZN, AZN.LN) is unexpectedly leaving to take a job with a privately held drug maker, a company spokeswoman said. The move comes at a delicate time for AstraZeneca, which has been trying to convince investors it can remake its pipeline, especially after rebuffing a $118 billion takeover offer last year from Pfizer. As a result, the departure creates a significant gap for the drug maker, which has been in the process of revamping its R&D operations. ADRs rose 1.6% to $66.40.

Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR, VALE5.FR) said it plans to slash its investment spending over the next three years. The Brazilian mining giant expects to invest a total of $9 billion this year and $7 billion in 2016. Capital spending will continue to slow in 2017 and 2018, to $5 billion and $4 billion, respectively. In 2014, Vale invested a total of $12 billion in its operations. ADRs rose 5.3% to $6.77.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

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