Bottom line: Yahoo’s reversal of its earlier decision to spin off its 15 percent of Alibaba into a separate company will have no impact on Alibaba, which is indicating separately that it will hold onto its own big stake in Uber China rival Didi Kuaidi.
Yahoo reverses course on Alibaba stake spin-off
A couple of news items are showing that the long and complex relationship between Internet search pioneer Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba(NYSE: BABA) is far from over, and how the companies may remain hopelessly entangled for a while to come. The first item made global headlines, and has Yahoo reversing its earlier decision to spin off its 15 percent of Alibaba into a separate company. The second item has Yahoo founder Jerry Yang getting named as a top adviser to Didi Kuaidi, China’s main rival to US private car services giant Uber, which counts Alibaba as one of its major stakeholders.
At the heart of this complex dance is a personal relationship between Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Yahoo’s Yang. The pair struck up a friendship more than a decade ago, and ultimately formed a major alliance that saw Yahoo purchase 40 percent of Alibaba for about $1 billion. Yahoo later sold down that stake, netting billions of dollars in profits. But it still holds 15 percent of Alibaba, which is currently worth about $30 billion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Unicom and China Telecom are likely to strike a major new network sharing agreement next year, and could ultimately merge in 2017 if several pilot programs to liberalize China’s telecoms services market gain momentum.
Unicom studies resource sharing
Wireless carrier Unicom (HKEx: 763; NYSE: CHU) is giving the clearest signal yet of a coming shakeup in China’s telecoms space, with disclosure that it’s exploring a potential pooling of infrastructure resources with other companies. Word of the move comes in a bigger announcement from Unicom trumpeting the launch of its new 4G+ service, as it plays catch-up to archrival China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which has been offering 4G service for nearly 2 years now.
Industry watchers are more likely to focus on Unicom’s network-sharing part of the announcement, which comes towards the end of the carrier’s brief new stock exchange filing. That’s because the disclosure marks the latest signal of a looming reorganization for China’s 3 state-run telcos, following rumors that began in the summer after a leadership shuffle within the trio. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) Reverses Plan to Spin Off Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Stake (English article)
Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: WMT) China Imports Cost 400,000 US Jobs in 2001-2013: Report (English article)
President to Buy Qihoo 360’s (NYSE: QIHU) Enterprise Security Business – Source (English article)
Didi Kuaidi Appoints Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) Co-Founder Jerry Yang as Adviser (English article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) E-Auto to Become Presenting Partner of FIFA Club World Cup (Businesswire)
Bottom line: Upcoming IPOs by China Postal Bank in Hong Kong and Canadian Solar’s solar plant-building unit in New York should get strong receptions, though both may have to wait until after the Christmas holidays to launch.
Conservative Postal Bank draws big investors
An upcoming mega IPO in Hong Kong by the stodgy Postal Savings Bank of China is shaping up as one of this year’s hottest new offerings, with word that it’s added domestic heavyweights including China Life (HKEx: 2628; Shanghai: 601628; NYSE: LFC) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) to its impressive list of early investors. In other IPO news across the Pacific, solar panel maker Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is also drumming up hype for a new offering by its solar plant-building unit, which has landed some modest new financing from big-name western commercial lenders.
Each of these IPO stories has a different subplot, but a common theme is that both could be relatively hot despite distinctly cool sentiment these last few months towards new offshore Chinese listings. It’s not yet clear if either offering will make it to market by the end of next week, which is probably the latest they could occur before the traditional Christmas break. But even if they have to wait until next year, both could do reasonably well. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Taiwan’s TSMC (Taipei: 2330) to Build $3 Bln Chip Plant in Nanjing (Chinese article)
Homeinns (Nasdaq: HMIN) Enters into Definitive Merger Agreement (PRNewswire)
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) AliExpress to Collect Annual Service Fee (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 763) Announces Launch of Wo 4G+, to Explore Network Sharing (HKEx Announcement)
Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027) Pays 1 Bln Yuan for 70 Pct of Feng Xiaogang’s Firm (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Richard Li’s investment in ZTE reflects the company’s improving position after an overhaul during the last 2 years, while Pony Ma’s sell-down of his Tencent stake looks like ordinary share selling by a company founder.
Pony Ma sells Tencent, Richard Li buys ZTE
A couple of stock sales are in the news as we head into the new week, led by Pony Ma’s sale of a massive HK$3.8 billion ($500 million) worth of shares in his company, social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). While Ma was busy cashing out some of his stake, Hong Kong’s Richard Li, son of billionaire Li Ka-shing, moved in the other direction by boosting his stake in ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), the telecoms company emerging from a major overhaul over the past 2 years.
Of these 2 moves, the latter is probably more significant since it marks a vote of confidence in the turnaround story of ZTE by Li, whose investment decisions are fairly well respected though nothing like those by his much better-known father. Pony Ma’s sell-down of his stake looks more routine, though it’s still a relatively large portion of his sizable holdings in China’s second most valuable Internet company, with a market value of $180 billion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba’s new announcement of expansion in France and Germany looks largely incremental rather than a major move, and is aimed at creating positive buzz around its international growth story.
Alibaba names France country head
E-commerce giant Alibaba(NYSE: BABA) is closing out 2015 with a couple of big new hires in Europe, as it tries to give investors new reason to cheer about its future growth prospects. But a closer read of the announcement detailing the hires of country chiefs in France and Germany reveals a distinctly Chinese story, rather than the global expansion tale that many investors are eagerly awaiting.
In this case, Alibaba is choosing to focus on how the new office openings in France and Germany will help merchants in those markets sell into China. That’s part of a broader trend that has seen Alibaba, archrival JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) and global names like Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) try to offer more global brands to increasingly affluent Chinese consumers who are willing to pay more for these trusted names. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Mango TV’s scaled-back new funding reflects the potential and stiff competition in China’s online video market, while Lufax’s Chinese and foreign roots could make it a name to watch in the emerging private financial services sector.
Mango TV nears $1.5 billion funding
Two fund-raising deals likely to be among China’s largest next year are in the headlines as we close the week, led by a major paring back of plans by upstart online video company Mango TV. The other news is shedding more light on aggressive expansion plans by Lufax, another upstart in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending space, which is in the process of seeking $1 billion in new funds.
Let’s jump right in with the Mango deal, which is reportedly close to wrapping and will see the company raise $1.5 billion. (Chinese article) I’m admit I’m not completely sure that the figure is US dollars, as the Chinese report doesn’t specify if it’s dollars or Chinese yuan. But the US dollar figure is more consistent with reports last month, which said Mango was seeking to raise up to 20 billion yuan, or about $3.2 billion in its second funding round. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu’s disposal of its problematic music division looks like a smart move that was long overdue, while its new tie-up with Amazon looks minor but could get much bigger if it expands into the e-commerce sector.
Baidu in Christmas time tie-ups with Amazon, music company
Leading search engine Baidu(Nasdaq: BIDU) is in the headlines with a couple of big strategic moves, led by an intriguing new tie-up with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) that could have broader implications in the e-commerce space. The other news has Baidu merging its problematic music division, which was historically plagued by piracy issues, into a new company headed by an entertainment firm called Taihe Music Culture Development.
Both moves represent incremental strategic tweaks for Baidu, as it tries to expand beyond its core online search business into other areas of the Internet. The Amazon alliance looks relatively superficial, but could hint at a broader future tie-up that might see the companies work together in China’s lucrative but highly competitive e-commerce space dominated by Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba and Tencent are likely to find themselves in a growing number of clashes in the year ahead due to consolidation involving their investments at home and a limited number of opportunities abroad.
Alibaba, Tencent back rival Korean Internet banks
In what’s shaping up as a trend for the year ahead, Tencent(HKEx: 700) and Alibaba(NYSE: BABA) are clashing once again in a newly announced South Korean Internet bank initiative in which both of China’s top Internet companies have an interest. It may be slightly overstated to call this particular instance a clash, since stakes held by Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial and Tencent in 2 newly formed Korean Internet banks are probably quite small, probably at 5 percent or less.
But the reality is that these 2 Internet titans are increasingly clashing in a growing number of instances, as each invests in a wide array of areas to expand beyond their core businesses both inside and out of China. Those investments have put the pair in awkward situations in 2 of China’s largest Internet M&A deals this year, one involving the formation of hired car services giant Didi Kuaidi, and the other in a newer deal that has Meituan and Dianping merging to form a new leader in the group buying space. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: CMC’s purchase of a stake in the parent of the Manchester City soccer club looks at least partly political, and could be followed by similar purchases by Alibaba or LeTV next year as companies try to earn goodwill from Beijing.
CMC buys into global soccer
Anyone who thought the entrepreneurial China Media Capital (CMC) might represent a new breed of market-oriented Chinese investors will be disappointed to learn the company’s latest purchase looks quite political and aimed at pleasing Beijing. That investment has the Shanghai-based CMC teaming up with the financial giant Citic Group, another highly political animal, to buy 13 percent of a company whose prize asset is the Manchester City soccer club.
I’m probably being slightly unfair in calling this move purely political, since China is certainly a soccer-crazy country that could benefit from the expertise that CMC will get through its investment in City Football Group (CFG). But the timing of this deal looks quite suspicious, as it comes just weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the team during a tour of Britain, where he released a plan to turn China into a soccer powerhouse. Read Full Post…
