The board of China Nepstar Chain Drugstore has received a bid for the company led by its chairman.

NYSE-listed China Nepstar has 1969 directly operated drugstores across 74 cities in China, making it one of the largest such chains in the Mainland.

The company says its board of directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated July 6, 2015, from Simin Zhang, chairman of the board, and China Neptunus Drugstore Holding Ltd, an investment vehicle wholly owned by Zhang. The two parties want to buy the entire shareholding of the business.

The bid would be funded by debt or equity and a subsidiary of China Neptunus has already acquired 50 million shares from Capital Eagle Global Ltd.

The proposal letter specifies the proposal is only a preliminary indication of interest, and is subject to negotiation and execution of definitive agreements relating to the proposed transaction.

China Nepstar will form a special committee of independent directors to consider the proposal before responding and updating shareholders further.

“There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated,” the company warned in a stock exchange filing.