The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) Buys ‘Clash of Clans’ Maker Supercell for $8.6 Bln (English article)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Invests in LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) Super Car Business – Report (Chinese article)
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Eyes Shanghai as Front-Runner for China Production (English article)
China Will Allow Foreign Firms to Issue Shares on Mainland: Central Bank (English article)
CDB Leasing Attracts Three Gorges, China Re to $978 Mln IPO (English article)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Swaps 145 Mln Shares for Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian (Chinese article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Adds 17.9 Mln 4G Users in May, Total Up to 409 Mln (Chinese article)
Kuka (Frankfurt: KU2) Investor Loh Says Not Planning Counter Bid to Midea’s (English article)
Perfect World Buys Back Online Literature Unit from Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) (Chinese article)
Orient Securities Hong Kong IPO Seeks Up to $1.2 Bln (English article)
Bottom line: A new IPO from Postal Savings Bank will price and debut strongly thanks to its conservative stance, while another offering from Orient Securities could also do moderately well due to its small size.
Postal Bank set for mega-IPO in HK
Two financial institutions are lining up to launch IPOs in Hong Kong this week, led by what’s likely to be the biggest offering this year by China’s stodgy Postal Savings Bank, whose listing could raise up to $8 billion. In a far smaller deal, brokerage Orient Securities is also set to announce a HK$1.15 billion ($174 million) IPO deal as soon as today, in what looks like a slightly desperate bid for cash following its much larger Shanghai listing last year at the height of China’s stock market boom. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 18-20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Hit With New China Setback in Beijing Patent Ruling (English article)
China’s Postal Savings Bank May File For Up to $8 Bln HK IPO Next Week (English article)
Bottom line: Midea’s investment in Kuka is likely to move ahead and could be successful, but will be far more costly than a Chinese joint venture between the 2 sides that would have achieved most of Midea’s objectives.
Berlin OKs Midea’s Kuka investment
After showing growing signs of collapse, a deal that would see Chinese appliance giant Midea (Shenzhen: 000333) buy a large stake in German industrial robotics firm Kuka (Frankfurt: KU2) is suddenly springing back to life, with word the deal has received the official nod from Berlin. But Berlin is only giving its approval with a number of major conditions, including reassurances that Midea won’t try to buy a majority of Kuka and also that Kuka’s German-based jobs will be protected. Such a compromise looks promising and could ultimately help to seal the deal. But it also raises the question of why exactly Midea needs to make this particular form of investment. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Reluctance to transfer its technology killed CRI’s breakthrough deal to build the first US high-speed rail line, showing that emerging Chinese tech leaders must be more open to such transfers if they hope to succeed globally.
CRI’s high-speed train to US derails
The story that has seen China’s rapid modernization using western technology took an unusual twist last week, when a US firm aiming to build America’s first high-speed rail line abruptly canceled its tie-up with a Chinese partner over technology transfer issues. The US builder of the line connecting Los Angeles and Las Vegas was quite direct, blaming its decision on Washington’s condition requiring that rail cars for the project be locally manufactured. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Sees Growth Rising to 48 Pct in First Forecast (English article)
ChemChina, New Hope Said to Weigh McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Franchise Bids (English article)
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Reports Q1 Results (PRNewswire)
China’s Midea (Shenzhen: 000333) Wants Only 49 Pct of Kuka: Sources (English article)
NXP (Nasdaq: NXPI) Selling Products Unit for $2.75 Bln to Chinese Group (English article)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Lowered Revenue Guidance for Q2 (PRNewswire)
Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) Signs $1.5 Bln Framework Deal with China Mobile (HKEx: 941) (English article)
Okmetic (Helsinki: OKM1V) Says 93 Pct of Shares Tendered for Offer by China’s NSIG (GlobeNewswire)
After Apple,Didi Chuxing Gets $600 Mln Investment from China Life (HKEx: 2628)
Cheesecake Factory (Nasdaq: CAKE) Opens First China Store at Shanghai Disney (Businesswire)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 9-13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: HNA’s potential bid for 2 South American airlines looks opportunistic and could succeed due to its likely willingness to overpay, while Jin Jiang’s latest attempt to boost its stake in Accor could presage a takeover bid this year or next.
HNA eyes South American airlines
Two major tourism deals are in the headlines as the new week begins, reflecting Chinese companies’ desire to capitalize on the growing number of local tourists traveling abroad. Leading the news is word that Hainan Airlines (Shanghai: 600221) parent HNA Group is in talks to purchase South American carrier Avianca, just a week after the company made another major investment in Australian carrier Virgin Australia (Sydney: VBA). (previous post) The other headline has hotel company Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006; Shanghai: 600754) trying to slowly take control of French giant Accor (Paris: AC), with word it wants to further boost a stake that it started buying early this year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: European alarmism could soon start to grow over a sudden Chinese buying spree of local soccer clubs, including the latest purchase of Inter Milan by Suning and a looming purchase of AC Milan by a Chinese buyer.
Suning bounces into Milan
The new week is kicking off with a couple of China soccer deals in Europe, led by the purchase of a majority of Italy’s Inter Milan by consumer giant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024), and buzz that another deal is near that would see crosstown rival AC Milan sold to a Chinese buyer. This kind of news is becoming quite common these days, following other recent deals that have seen Chinese companies buy or purchase stakes in soccer clubs and other sporting assets in Spain, Britain, Switzerland and even New York. All of which raises the question of if and when Europeans might start to feel uneasy about this sudden buying binge of so many assets from their favorite past-time. Read Full Post…
