Bottom line: Kingsoft’s write-down in the value of its investments in 21Vianet and Xunlei could auger a sale of its stakes in both companies, following a failed privatization bid for 21Vianet and little hope for a Xunlei recovery.
Kingsoft writes down 21Vianet, Xunlei investments
A week after data center operator 21Vianet (Nasdaq: VNET) became the second US-listed Chinese company to abandon its privatization bid, one of the financial backers that was leading that bid is providing some hints at what led to its actions. That’s my interpretation of the new disclosure from software maker Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888) saying it has written down $125 million related to slumps in the values of its investments in 21Vianet and also in struggling online video downloading site Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: 21Vianet could get a new privatization offer from Tsinghua Unigroup by year end, following withdrawal of a previous bid; while Xiaomi chief Lei Jun may start selling non-core assets to raise money for his struggling company.
Buyout group scraps 21Vianet bid
Data center operator 21Vianet (Nasdaq: VNET) has finally done the inevitable and formally scrapped its de-listing plan, becoming the second company to do so among some 40 US-listed Chinese firms trying to privatize from New York. This particular move has been coming for a while now, and signs appeared as early as May that 21Vianet was abandoning its privatization plans. But new Chinese media reports are casting some light on why this particular bid collapsed, and it appears the reasons are linked to struggling smartphone maker Xiaomi, whose chief and co-founder Lei Jun was helping to finance the deal. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Washington’s 2 month extension of a temporary license for ZTE to keep buying from its US suppliers indicates a final ruling is likely by year end in a similar probe against Huawei for illegally selling US products to Iran.
US extends export license for ZTE
After a tense period earlier this year when it appeared it could lose access to some of its key suppliers, telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) has been given continued access to those suppliers under a new extension of its earlier deal with Washington. The clash stemmed from a Washington ruling that ZTE sold US-manufactured telecoms equipment to Iran in violation of trade restrictions. Washington was set to punish ZTE by cutting it off from its many US suppliers, but later relented after the Chinese company agreed to cooperate with an investigation into the matter. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Reports of big sales target reductions could point to a looming slowdown for Huawei, as it tries to move out of low-end smartphones and into an increasingly saturated higher end of the market.
Huawei set for slowdown?
After posting phenomenal growth over the last year to become the world’s third biggest smartphone brand, China’s Huawei may be seeing a slowdown that’s reportedly prompting it to sharply cut its sales targets for this year. If the reports are true, the downward revision would mark a sudden reversal for Huawei, which has been posting sales growth in the 50-60 percent range since the middle of last year when its recent surge began. Such a shift would hardly be unprecedented in the fast-changing smartphone world, though it would come as a slight surprise since the company’s phones have become quite popular here in China, approaching the status of global superstar Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The MIIT should be commended for resisting pressure by China’s 3 telcos to ban free private voice services for enterprise customers, but should move quickly to show it will license such service providers like DingTalk and WeChat.
DingTalk halts free enterprise voice service
The ongoing battle between China’s big 3 state-run telecoms carriers and an emerging field of private sector challengers was in the headlines last week, when rumors emerged that the regulator was set to stop private firms from offering free voice services for business customers. The move looked set to potentially shut down popular services provided by Internet giants Tencent(HKEx: 700), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and others, before the regulator clarified that licenses were needed for companies to provide such voice services. (Chinese article) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Qualcomm and Meizu are likely to reach a new licensing agreement after the former sued the latter, pressuring Meizu’s profits, while Taipei will reach a compromise with local chip makers that would allow mainland investment in the sector.
Qualcomm sues Meizu over chip license
Two high-tech chip stories are in the headlines today, reflecting the complex dynamics now taking place in the market between China and the rest of the world. In both cases, the common theme is that China wants to build up its own manufacturing base for high-tech chips that power everything from cars to smartphones and home appliances. It’s already the world’s biggest consumers of such chips, since it manufactures many of those devices. But it doesn’t design or produce most of the actual chips, which is an extremely high-tech business that also carries high profit margins. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Midea’s purchase of Germany’s Kuka and Italy’s Clivet, and SMIC’s purchase of Italy’s LFoundry represent a wave of opportunistic buying by Chinese firms in Europe, with more such deals to come under Beijing’s directive to go global.
Midea buys Italy’s Clivet
A sluggish European economy, made worse by last week’s shock Brexit, is providing fertile shopping ground for Chinese firms, with 3 large deals in the headlines as the new week begins. Two of those involve home appliance maker Midea (Shenzhen: 000333), whose controversial and very expensive plan to buy a big stake in German robotics maker Kuka (Frankfurt: KU2G) looks set to reach a final agreement this week. At the same time, Midea has reached another deal to buy an Italian rival in the air conditioner space. Last but not least, faded semiconductor maker SMIC (HKEx: 981; NYSE: SMI) has announced another deal in Italy to buy the smaller rival LFoundry. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China Telecom could become less aggressive in 4G this year under its new leadership, while China Mobile remains the investor best bet among China’s 3 carriers due to early entry to 4G.
China Telecom zooms in 4G
It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at the bigger China telecoms landscape for total subscribers and 4G service, so the release of the latest monthly data from the nation’s 3 major carriers seems like a good opportunity to assess the situation. Not surprisingly, all 3 have posted anemic overall subscriber growth since the start of the year due to an increasingly saturated market. But a look at 4G shows a more diverse picture, with China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) acting far more aggressively than rival China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) in the quest for new subscribers. Read Full Post…
The headlines last week were littered with signs of growing unrest and chaos among the dozens of US-listed Chinese companies trying to privatize from New York and return to China in search of higher valuations. One of the biggest items saw signs of a new bidding war break out for private clinic operator iKang (Nasdaq: KANG), while another saw data center operator 21Vianet (Nasdaq: VNET) mount what increasingly looks like a stealth privatization campaign. A third saw social media website operator YY (Nasdaq: YY) become the first to abandon its privatization bid altogether, casting doubt on many of the other similar pending offers that have gone for months without any progress. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new China Life bid for iKang could trump Yunfeng, while 21Vianet could be mounting a stealth privatization bid that would see it slowly sell most of its shares to big buyers before mounting a formal de-listing attempt.
China Life eyeing bid for iKang?
A few strange twists are taking place in the story that has seen some 40 US-listed Chinese companies launch privatization bids since the start of last year, led by the surprise re-heating of a bidding war for private clinic operator iKang (iKang). In a separate headline, data center operator 21Vianet (Nasdaq: VNET) gave a new signal that it will abandon a previous buyout offer and may launch a stealth de-listing bid instead. And in the strangest development, the board of web portal operator Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) has rejected an investment plan by the company’s founder that looked like a prelude to a possible buyout offer at the time. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A Chinese group’s plan to buy the low-end chip business of Dutch firm NXP could be part of a newer Beijing strategy for buying western chip-related assets focused on older, less sensitive technologies and smaller companies.
China buys NXP assets
Even as its bid to take over a leading German robotics firm shows signs of crumbling, China is attempting yet another high-tech purchase in Europe with a newly announced plan to buy a major part of the business of microchip maker NXP Semiconductor (Nasdaq: NXPI). China tech watchers will know the earlier crumbling bid I’m referring to is coming from Chinese home appliance maker Midea (Shenzhen: 000333), which is trying to buy a major stake in Germany’s Kuka (Frankfurt: KU2). Now this newest bid has a couple of Chinese investment companies offering to pay $2.75 billion for NXP’s standard products business, which makes diodes, transistors and other basic parts for cars and consumer devices. Read Full Post…
