Update: After publishing this originally, a Qunar spokeswoman pointed out that Goldman Sachs was among the investment banks underwriting its IPO. So that changes the tenor of the last part of the post, which says that no premium investment banks were involved in the offering.
A long awaited year-end fund-flurry of fund raising by Chinese tech firms is gaining momentum, with online travel sites Qunar and Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) leading the charge as investor interest finally returns to the market. Qunar has just made the first public filing for its long-delayed IPO, while Ctrip continues to dazzle the markets by raising the size of its recent mega bond offer for the second time, underscoring strong demand from investors. Read Full Post…
I wanted to take a break from the usual companies I write about to look at the quietly rising NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), which has just joined a elite club of top Chinese web firms with a new major bond issue. The fact that NQ, formerly known as NetQin, could issue these bonds at all reflects its growing attractiveness to investors as a strong bet on China’s security software market. I can’t comment too much on its products, as I haven’t used them; but the company certainly looks well positioned to gain share in a market now dominated by Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), whose free security software is becoming the subject of growing controversy. Read Full Post…
I’m always looking for signs that the overseas IPO market for Chinese tech firms may finally be warming after a long winter now in its third year, but the latest signs from privatizing IT outsourcing firm Pactera (Nasdaq: PACT) and restaurant ratings site Dianping are hardly encouraging. Pactera has just announced it has formally signed a buyout offer that will take the company private, making it the latest in a long string of Chinese companies to de-list from New York. Meantime, media are reporting that Dianping, a dynamic site often likened to US site Yelp (NYSE: YELP), doesn’t plan to list for the next 5 years. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba Gives Up Plan For Hong Kong Listing – CEO (Chinese article)
Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Wins Fund License, Prepares To Roll Out Product (Chinese article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Quits Race For Pakistan Telco Warid (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Targets 2 Bln Yuan In 2013 Mobile Gaming Revenue (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Prices Offering of $700 Mln Convertible Senior Notes (PRNewswire)
Online travel site Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) has just become the latest Chinese Internet company to announce a mega-bond offering, taking advantage of its market-leading status to raise up to $500 million. While the bond itself is interesting, the more intriguing matter is what Ctrip plans to do with the funds. The company says that acquisitions is one possibility, leading me to speculate the company could purchase a stake in fast-rising rival Qunar, or even purchase the company outright. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lenovo (HKEx: 992) In Talks To Acquire HTC (Taipei: 2498) – Report (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Announces Proposed Offer Of $500 Mln Convertible Notes (PRNewswire)
A new announcement from leading online travel services firm Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) is showing just how important a strong mobile strategy is to the future of Internet companies in China, where legions of consumers now surf the web over their cellphones. Ctrip’s announcement shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who follows the sector, since most major Internet firms have specifically designated mobile as a key priority area for future growth. Robin Li, founder of leading search company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) early this year officially put himself in charge of the company’s mobile division (previous post); and e-commerce leader Alibaba has also embarked on a major acquisition spree this year with mobile technologies as one of its main focuses. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Local media have been buzzing this week with word of a new alliance between the unlikely partners of Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Qunar, 2 of China’s top online travel sites. The new alliance is actually rather modest, but is more surprising because the pair of companies are bitter rivals whose battle for market share has resulted in a recent series of price wars that have hit Ctrip’s earnings and threatened its market leading position. The companies have also said they will explore future cooperation, leading to the question of whether an outright merger might be in the future. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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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…
