Internet TV is fast becoming the flavor of the day for China’s leading Internet and gadget companies, with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba has now entered the field through a new tie-up with TV maker Skyworth (HKEx: 751). The news comes just a week after online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) announced its own similar tie-up with TCL Multimedia (HKEx: 1070), another leading TV maker, and following other similar recent product roll-outs by names like smartphone maker Xiaomi, video content provider LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) and PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). Read Full Post…
Froth in company valuations seems to be building once again in China’s high-tech realm, with word that up-and-coming smartphone maker Xiaomi’s latest fund raising values the company at more than $10 billion. The last time I wrote about such a rapidly rising valuation was about 2 years ago when an investor in high flying e-commerce site Jingdong proclaimed that company was also worth more than $10 billion. Jingdong’s value later came down considerably, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Xiaomi’s latest valuation is also just a bit too high on too much investor enthusiasm about this company that is growing fast but also playing in a very competitive market. Read Full Post…
An interesting war of wills is shaping up between the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEx) and e-commerce giant Alibaba, which looks increasingly determined to make its highly anticipated multibillion-dollar IPO in Hong Kong rather than New York. Alibaba’s apparent determination to keep its listing closer to its home China market is understandable, since the Hong Kong stock exchange is already home to China’s biggest listed Internet company, Tencent (HKEx: 700). But that said, Alibaba’s only personal experience with a public listing was also in Hong Kong, and that listing involving its B2B unit Alibaba.com was largely a failure. Shares of Alibaba.com initially soared after their 2007 IPO, but then were largely ignored by investors due to slowing growth, prompting Alibaba to ultimately privatize the company last year. Read Full Post…
It seems the word “imminent” can have several different meanings when it comes to M&A among Chinese Internet firms. In most cases, it means “very soon”, which seems to be the case with reports that a deal is imminent for e-commerce giant Alibaba to purchase video sharing site PPTV, also known as PPLive. Meantime, the word can also sometimes mean “a long time” or perhaps even “never”, which is the case for a deal that has seen reports appear several time for an imminent sale of Sogou, the search engine owned by web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), to several different buyers. Read Full Post…
Internet leaders Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Alibaba are in a recent war to see who can win the most headlines for online M&A, which has suddenly accelerated in China after years of inactivity. In the last 24 hours alone, media are reporting that Alibaba has finalized a deal to team with Hunan Satellite Television to purchase PPTV, one of China’s top video sharing sites. Not to be outdone, Baidu was reported earlier this week to be in late-stage talks to buy group buying site Nuomi (previous post), and has just announced the finalization of its previously announced $1.9 billion plan to buy online app store 91Wireless. (company announcement) Read Full Post…
After a wait of more than 2 years, Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) hugely popular Weibo microblogging platform is finally realizing some of its potential, raising the possibility we could finally see an IPO for the Twitter-like service in the next year. People started buzzing about a Weibo IPO as early as late 2010, when the service first began its meteoric rise after Beijing blocked the original Twitter in 2009. But then investors quickly cooled to the idea of an IPO, as it became apparent that Sina Weibo might take a long time to become profitable and a separate series of accounting scandals rocked the broader sector of US-listed Chinese stocks.Read Full Post…
I should have a bit more confidence in my predictions, following word that leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700) has become a major shareholder in top global electronic game designer Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) as part of a deal to buy out the company from its parent. I had predicted last year that Tencent could buy Activision outright, after France’s Vivendi (Paris: VIV) put the US gaming company up for sale to raise cash and divest non-core assets. But then when more than a year passed without any word of a deal, I concluded that Tencent was either unable to raise the financing for a transaction, or perhaps had lost interest. Read Full Post…
Consolidation in China’s crowded Internet is moving ahead full steam these days, with the latest reports indicating that online matchmaking site Jiayuan.com International (Nasdaq: DATE) may be the latest takeover target. If the reports are true, the talks would mark the latest tie-up that has seen cash-rich Internet giants including Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) embark on a recent buying frenzy for undervalued and cash-starved smaller Internet firms. Jiayuan certainly seems to fit that description, as the company’s shares have languished since its IPO 2 years ago. Read Full Post…
Yet another Chinese Internet firm is reportedly eying a Hong Kong listing, with word that mid-sized online gaming firm Suzhou Snail Digital is weighing an IPO to raise up to $100 million. This latest news must be worrisome to the 2 major stock markets in New York, which traditionally were the preferred listing venue for Chinese Internet companies and other start-up tech firms. Most of China’s biggest Internet firms now trade in New York, including search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and online travel services leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP). But the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange have lost some of their appeal over the last 2 years, amid waning interesting by investors and a crackdown against Chinese firms by the US securities regulator following a series of accounting scandals. Read Full Post…
Too much money isn’t always a good thing, as it often pressures companies to put that money to work even when good investment opportunities are limited. Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) demonstrated that reality earlier this week with its purchase of an online app store that had little relationship with its core online search business (previous post), and now Alibaba is also showing similar tendencies with its investment in an online travel services website. In Alibaba’s case, the new investment come as the e-commerce leader posted a record second-quarter profit, and as it prepares for a blockbuster IPO that increasingly looks like it will take place in Hong Kong. Read Full Post…
A few months ago I wrote about 2 emerging leaders in the fast growing sector for taxi apps, and now we’re hearing word that those companies, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, may be in talks for an equity tie-up. The reports are a bit vague, which leads me to question their accuracy; but they highlight the fact that this interesting and fast-growing sector is in need of consolidation. Read Full Post…
