Sina Gearing Up for Weibo Spin-Off 新浪欲剥离微博

Leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) has just announced a number of new moves for its highly popular Weibo microblogging service, often called China’s version of Twitter, that hint at a spin-off in the near future. None of the moves, including the roll-out of a Weibo-specific domain and a new Weibo logo, are very big news individually. (Chinese article) But what they collectively seem to say is that Sina wants to wean this very popular baby away from its parent and let it stand on its own two feet. I’m guessing that as part of the broader plan, Weibo executives will feel some pressure to better manage their own bottom line and find more ways to make money off this service that has a huge following in China, where Twitter is officially unavailable due to censorship. If all goes according to plan, I’d say to look for a Weibo spin off and IPO in the next two years.

Bottom line: Sina is getting serious about spinning off its Weibo business, paving the way for big profits and an IPO in the next two years.

中国第一大门户网站新浪<SINA.O>在微博方面的一系列新举动–启用独立的微博域名Weibo.com和新的微博logo–似乎表明它有意将微博业务独立出来。我猜，现在新浪微博的管理层将在探索更多盈利模式、增加盈利方面面临更大的压力。如果一切进展顺利，新浪微博在未来两年之内可能剥离上市。

一句话：新浪有意剥离微博业务，并可能在未来两年内IPO。

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◙ Weibo: Sina Looking at Big Bucks in Micro Packages

◙ Sina Puts Cash Pile to Work in Mecox