New Weibo Makes First M&A Move 新浪微博并购忙

By newsdoug on May 19, 2011

Just a month after gaining its independence from parent Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), Weibo, Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging service is taking its first steps in the M&A arena, in what is likely to become a fast and possibly dirty consolidation of this sector crowded with players all hoping to become the Twitter of China. Chinese media are reporting that Weibo is merging with Bula.com, a mobile microblogging platform operated by a company called 3G.cn. (English article) I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t know anything Weibo tries out M&A about Bula.com before reading this article, and details in the reports are scarce. But it sounds like this is a move by Weibo — already China’s most popular microblogging service — to quickly beef up its product offering in the fast-growing mobile Internet space. If that’s the case, then this looks like a smart move by Weibo, which, since receiving its independence from Sina, is no doubt under intense pressure to find a business model that will help it turn a profit quickly and then make an IPO in New York not long afterwards. Before this move, we saw signs last week of the coming consolidation when Baidu officially reorganized its microblogging service, a likely precursor to closing the service in the not-too-distant future. (previous post) We’ll need to see some of Weibo’s financials to know if its strategy is working, but so far I like the direction it’s taking and can imagine a blockbuster IPO for the company by the end of 2012.

Bottom line: Weibo’s acquisition of a mobile microblogging service marks the beginning of a sector consolidation that could end with a blockbuster Weibo IPO by the end of next year.

新浪微博从母公司新浪<SINA.O>独立才一个月，已经着手进行并购，可能推动微博领域快速整合。中国媒体报导称，新浪微博将与移动微博平台 Bula.com合并。我得承认，在我读到这篇报导前，我对Bula.com一无所知，并且报导里也缺乏细节。不过此宗交易听起来，像是新浪微博试图加强在移动网络领域的地位。倘若真是这样，算得上是个高招，因为新浪微博在从母公司独立後，肯定面临巨大压力，需要寻求一个恰当的商业模式，帮助其迅速实现盈利并在美国进行IPO。上周我就看到了微博领域整合的苗头，上周百度正式宣布对其微博产品–“说吧”进行调整，这或许预示其不远的将来将关闭此项服务。我们还需要看到新浪微博的财务表现，才能判断其战略是否奏效，但目前为止，我对其选定的方向表示赞许，并期待该公司在2012年底前进行轰轰烈烈的IPO。

一句话：新浪微博收购移动微博服务，标志着行业整合的开始，新浪微博可望於明年底以前进行IPO。

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