Tudou Name Tossed Around as IPO Looms IPO临近土豆网新闻多

By newsdoug on August 15, 2011

Tudou weighs options as IPO looms I have to say that video sharing site Tudou gets this year’s award for most mentioned company in media reports in the run-up to its bumpy IPO, with new wrinkles in this strange story sprouting up in the media almost daily. After reporting last week the company was in talks to sell part or all of itself to leading online search site Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) (previous post), Chinese media went on to say the company was also in talks with leading online video site Youku (NYSE: YOKU), as well as another online video site called LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104). (English article; Chinese article) Meantime, international media reported about the same time late last week that Tudou’s $180 million IPO — which was originally set for late last year but got delayed due to Chairman Gary Wang’s messy divorce — had been fully subscribed, with pricing set for Tuesday and an official trading debut on Wednesday. So, what’s going on here? Clearly Wang is trying to wheel and deal his way to a deal that will give his company the highest valuation possible, and he’s most probably seeing better valuations from a sale of his company than he is for an IPO. Cash-rich Baidu and Youku are most likely offering the best deals, but both of those would almost certainly require Wang to step down as chairman — something he and heads of similar Chinese companies are usually reluctant to do. An IPO would obviously allow Wang to stay on as chairman, and it’s quite possible the company or its bankers are deliberately leaking rumors about acquisitions to the media to stir up investor interest in an otherwise chilly IPO market. If I were a bettor, I would put my money on the IPO going forward, with a 70 percent chance of success. Among the private buyers, Baidu probably stands a better chance than Youku, as the former can offer more money and also the small possibility that Wang can continue to run the business. Stay tuned for an interesting finale to this rocky but colorful IPO later in the week.

Bottom line: Tudou is likely to go ahead with its $180 million IPO, declining lucrative buyout offers as chairman Gary Wang opts for control of the company over cash.

不得不说，土豆网在走向IPO的道路上，算得上是今年中国媒体提及最多的一家企业了，关於土豆的新闻几乎天天不缺。上周媒体报导，百度<BIDU.O>正在洽购土豆，中国媒体现在又称土豆也在与优酷网<YOKU.N>、乐视网<300104.Z>洽谈。同时，国际媒体上周大约同一时间报导，土豆1.8亿美元IPO已经获得足额认购，定价日定於本周二，周三为首个交易日。那麽，到底是什麽情况？显然土豆网董事长兼CEO王微有着自己的算盘，想要按照自己的方式为公司争取最高的估值，而且他可能觉得出售公司的估值比IPO的会更高。百度、优酷最有可能给出好报价，但两家公司几乎一定都会要求王微辞任董事长，这是他与其他很多类似中国企业的负责人都不愿意做的事情。IPO显然可以让王微保住董事长的职位，而且极有可能是土豆自己或帮助其上市的投行故意向媒体透露收购传闻，以激起投资者对公司IPO的兴趣。如果要赌的话，我会把钱压在IPO上，胜算七成。土豆的各家求购者中，百度的机会可能要比优酷大一些，因为百度给的钱可能会更多，而且王微还有很小的机会继续管理公司。土豆曲折离奇而又多姿多彩的IPO本周稍晚如何落幕？大家不妨拭目以待。

一句话：土豆可能会继续推进IPO，拒绝其他企业的收购报价，因为在权、钱衡量中，王微更倾向於掌控公司的控制权。