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Tag Archives: Chen Tianqiao
Latest news about Tianqiao Chen the Co-Founded Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd, $1.41 Billion
Mr. Tianqiao Chen Co-Founded Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd., (a subsidiary of “Shanda Games Limited” in Dec 1999)
Tianqiao Chen has been its President since January 2010.
This Chinese Business men is the Co-Founded Shanghai Shanda Networking Co
Tianqiao Chen has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. since December 1999.
Mr Chen is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Shanda Media Group Limited.
Bottom line: Shanda’s purchase of a major stake in Legg Mason marks the start of a global investment spree that is likely to see 2-3 similar sized deals in the Chinese and global financial services sectors by the end of this year.
Chen Tianqiao kicks off Shanda global buying with Legg Mason stake
With its former online entertainment empire now firmly in the past, Shanda Group looks set to embark on the next chapter of its development as a private equity investor in the financial services sector. The first major step in that campaign is in the headlines today, with US asset manager Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) announcing that Shanda has just purchased 10 percent of the company.
The purchase looks like a small first step for Shanda onto the global stage in its new carnation. The company was formerly a Shanghai-based group founded by the financially savvy Chen Tianqiao, who was an early pioneer in China’s online game industry. But poor management and a series of unlucky developments led Shanda to lose its early lead in the space, and Chen has spent much of the last 3 years selling off his various entertainment assets. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Momo may be reconsidering its de-listing plan as it approaches profitability and becomes comfortable in New York, while Shanda’s final de-listing testifies to the resourcefulness and tenacity of founder Chen Tianqiao.
Shanda NY listing nears end game
Two companies aiming to de-list from New York are in the headlines as the weekend approaches, led by word that Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is finally packing its bags and heading home after a long and difficult privatization process lasting nearly 2 years. At the other end of the spectrum is social networking app maker Momo (Nasdaq: MOMO), which was aiming to capture the record for shortest life as a US-listed company when it announced a privatization bid in June just 7 months after its Nasdaq IPO.
I’ve written quite a few times about Shanda Games’ imminent de-listing, only to see the buyout derail for different reasons. But this time it really does look final after shareholders approved a buyout deal that has now formally closed. (company announcement) Meantime, Momo has just announced quarterly results that show it is almost profitable. But what’s perhaps equally interesting is the lack of any mention of its own previously announced buyout offer in the report, which could perhaps imply a change of direction. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Shanda Games’ imminent de-listing could be followed by a behind-the-scenes consolidation by one or more savvy private equity firms to create a major new online game firm capable of challenging NetEase or even Tencent.
Shanda Games heads for de-listing door
Faded online gaming pioneer Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is finally heading for greener pastures, releasing what’s likely to be its final earnings report as its shareholders get set to vote on a plan to privatize the company. Shanda Games’ road to privatization has been long and tortured, and is only now finally coming to completion after its initial announcement nearly 2 years ago. (previous post) But that said, I do have to commend Shanda’s strong-willed founder and chief Chen Tianqiao for finally getting the job done.
From a broader perspective, Shanda’s departure continues a trend that has seen online game companies de-listing en mass, after their stocks struggled for years due to stiff competition. In an interesting twist to that trend, these gaming laggards have been one of the few groups to actually complete privatizations among the 3 dozen US-traded Chinese companies that announced such buyouts earlier this year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Shanda’s participation in a bid for a US financial firm marks the start of the company’s move into finance, and reflects the broader rise of a new group of major private equity investors in Shanghai.
Shanda joins bid for US investment firm
Following its failed bid to become a major online entertainment company, the Shanghai-based Shanda is trying its hand at deal-making, with word that it’s part of a group making a bid for major US financial firm Russell Investments. Shanda’s entry to the private equity realm marks a growing trend that is seeing Shanghai-based companies emerge as some of China’s most aggressive homegrown private equity investors.
That trend is being led by Fosun International (HKEx: 656), which has been one of China’s biggest international buyers these last 2 years with a number of high-profile investments in Europe and North America. More recently Fosun has been joined by the aggressive China Media Group, which is connected to Shanghai’s leading media company SMG, and whose name is also showing up on a growing number of high profile investments. And then there’s the recently formed China Minsheng Investment Corp, an offshoot of the entrepreneurial China Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988; Shanghai: 600016), which is also being quite aggressive. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: New developments in the break-up of Shanda Group are likely to result in the successful sales of its games and literature units in the next 6 months.
Cloudary pools resources with Tencent literarture
The slow-motion break-up of former online entertainment superstar Shanda Group continues in 2 different headlines, with word that its core online literature and gaming businesses are set to be taken over by Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) and a couple of major brokerages, respectively, in separate deals. Both of these deals look quite exciting, as they involve the entry of serious-looking buyers who could ultimately use their acquired Shanda assets to create some interesting and potentially competitive new companies in their respective spaces. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Chen Tianqiao’s sale of his Shanda Games stake marks his symbolic exit from online entertainment, and he will probably return to deal-making by setting up his own private equity firm.
Chen Tianqiao steps down from Shanda Games
The slow-motion breakup of the online entertainment empire of Shanda Interactive has taken a major step forward, with news that the company is selling its entire stake in its core online gaming unit. The news follows previous reports that Shanda Interactive had reached a deal to sell a controlling stake in its Cloudary online literature unit, and its sale earlier this year of a controlling stake in its struggling Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) online video unit. All of this comes as Shanda Interactive’s chairman and founder Chen Tianqiao looks to disband his empire that was an early leader in online entertainment, but later languished as it was overtaken by rivals like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700). Read Full Post…
More signs of turbulence are coming from the troubled online game space, with word that the CEO of Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) has resigned and Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) has overhauled its R&D division to breathe new life into the company. There’s quite a lot of back story to these latest news bits, including a strategic equity alliance announced by the 2 companies at the start of the year that later fell apart for unexplained reasons. The bigger story is the fierce competition in China’s online game market, which has left companies like Shanda and Perfect World struggling to grow and has dampened investor enthusiasm for new gaming IPOs. Read Full Post…
Big privatization deals are never easy, as we’re seeing with signs that a buyout plan launched by the controlling shareholder of online game firm Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is rapidly unraveling. Shanda Games’ parent, Shanda Interactive, launched the plan back in January, as part of a broader wave of similar privatizations for undervalued US-listed Chinese companies. Shanda Interactive is saying the buyout is still alive, though other shareholders are clearly growing skeptical, based on Shanda Games latest stock price. Read Full Post…
The ongoing cleanup of neglected Chinese firms from US stock exchanges continues, with word that online game developer Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) has finalized its plan to go private. A report on the bid says that several other Chinese online game firms are also planning privatizations, as former industry leader Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is also in the midst of its own such bid. It’s not hard to see why these companies are going private, as their shares have gone nowhere for years due to anemic growth. But what’s interesting here is the prospect that some of the private equity firms funding this wave of buy-outs could finally force a few of these companies to merge and create a more vibrant major new player with real growth potential. Read Full Post…
Shanda’s Chen throws in the towel with company sale plan
I’ve followed online entertainment entrepreneur Chen Tianqiao for quite some time now, and can completely understand the latest news that he may be ready to throw in the towel by selling his flagship company, Shanda Interactive Entertainment. I remember first running into Chen in Hong Kong back in 2004 at an investor event, shortly before Shanda become China’s first publicly listed online gaming company later that year. Shanda was briefly on top of the world as China’s top Internet gaming firm for a few years after that; but it has run into a non-stop series of headaches since then, causing its value to stagnate as it got passed by more nimble rivals like Tencent (HKEx: 700) and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES). Read Full Post…
One of China’s biggest online entertainment companies is rapidly disappearing from the publicly listed realm, with word that Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) has become the latest US-listed Chinese firm to receive a management-led buyout offer. The news came as a surprise to me, since many believed that Shanda’s parent, Shanda Interactive, wanted to follow a strategy of listing its various units individually after it made its own privatization 2 years ago. But from another angle, this de-listing plan isn’t all that unexpected since Shanda Games’ shares have languished since they were first listed in 2009. Read Full Post…
