Shanda Literature IPO: Watch the Bottom Line *盛大文学IPO: 利润在哪里？
Shanda (Nasdaq: SNDA) supremo Chen Tianqiao isn’t wasting any time with his plans to bring his latest offering to market. Chinese media are reporting that just weeks after splitting off its online literature unit into a separate company, Shanda is preparing a listing for the company, called Cloudary, with hopes to raise up to $500 million in the second half of this year. (English article; Chinese article) Of course we’ll need some financials before we can comment further, but considering this area isn’t really a hot one and Chen’s own cloudy record with spin-offs, I don’t see this offer being particularly attractive. Shanda’s earlier spin-off
of its core online game business, Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) has been a total dud since its listing, and its Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) was also a dud until a recent merger rekindled investor interest. I’ve previously said I like Chen’s idea of trying to monetize his different businesses, which appears to be what he’s doing here. But he needs to focus more on creating interesting businesses that can generate investor excitement, or risk ending up with a crop of uninspiring separately-listed companies under the umbrella of an equally uninspired parent.
Bottom line: Shanda’s plan to list its Cloudary online literature unit is bound to be another dud.
盛大互动娱乐<SNDA.O>创始人陈天桥在推动盛大文学上市这件事上，一分钟都没浪费。中国媒体称，将盛大文学剥离成一个单独公司之後仅过了几个星期，盛大就打算让这家已更名为Cloudary的公司今年下半年在美国进行首次公开发行（IPO），募资5亿美元。当然，在作出评价之前，我们需要看看一些财务数据，但考虑到这并不是一个热门领域，陈天桥以前将公司剥离上市的经历也并不出彩，我并不太看好这次IPO。陈天桥此前从盛大网络剥离出来、从事公司核心业务的盛大游戏<GAME.O>上市以来的表现一塌糊涂，盛大旗下的酷6媒体<KUTV.O>也仅仅因为最近的并购举措才重新引起投资者兴趣。我以前说过，我喜欢陈天桥将其不同业务货币化的想法，但他需要做的是更加专注于创造有意思、能够引发投资者兴趣的企业，否则可能落得分拆上市公司和母公司都受冷落的下场。
一句话：盛大文学上市计划注定又是一场悲剧。
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Shanda’s New Deal: Spinning Off Literature 盛大文学拟分拆上市
◙ Don’t Gamble on Shanda, Says CCTV 盛大被曝光
◙ Ku6 Media Bulks Up, Heats Up Online Video 酷6扩张版图
