Bottom line: Wanda’s new e-commerce initiative looks overvalued following a recent investment, but could have the resources and expertise it needs to pose a serious challenge to Alibaba and JD.com.
Wanda raises money for e-commerce JV
Fresh from the successful listing of its core real estate arm, Wanda Group is pushing full-steam ahead into another major new initiative in e-commerce, aiming to challenge industry leaders Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Wanda’s colorful and very wealthy founder Wang Jianlin was busy talking up his e-commerce initiative this week, announcing a major new funding and important new partner for the project. Wang has forged ahead in several new areas over the past year, including hotels, theme parks and movie theaters, as he attempts to build up an entertainment empire to rival global names like Disney (NYSE: DIS). Read Full Post…
The year 2014 could well go down as the “Year of the Crackdown”, as evidenced by 2 more such crackdowns in the headlines as we head in autumn. The first and larger of the pair comes in the online video space, where media are reporting the broadcasting regulator is finalizing rules that would severely limit the amount of foreign content on online video sites. Meantime, a more mild crackdown is also coming in the e-commerce space, where separate reports are saying another regulator is rolling out rules that will punish companies that overstate their transaction volumes. Read Full Post…
E-commerce leader Alibaba is supposedly in a quiet period in the run-up to its upcoming multibillion-dollar IPO, but you would never know that based on the steady stream of headlines that keep emerging about the company. In all fairness, many of the IPO-related headlines are probably coming from investment banking sources who are trying to hype the offer that could be the world’s biggest ever by a tech firm. But I suspect many of those reports are probably coming from company sources, including the latest reports that Alibaba is preparing to launch a used car e-commerce platform and move into South Korea. Read Full Post…
Consolidation continues to advance in the Chinese supermarket aisle, with word that Hong Kong grocery operator Dairy Farm (London: DFIB) is paying nearly $1 billion for 20 percent of Yonghui (Shanghai: 601933), one of China’s top chains. A couple of years ago I would have said this deal looked like a good one for both sides, combining Dairy Farm’s well-run Hong Kong-based chain of Wellcome supermarkets with Yonghui’s sizable Chinese operations. But frankly speaking, China’s rapid migration of food shopping into the e-commerce realm makes the whole idea of consolidation of brick-and-mortar operations look like a belated effort with limited growth potential. Read Full Post…
Two major regulatory moves could have opposite effects for different areas of the Internet, providing relief for e-commerce firms while posing yet another new challenge for online video operators. In the former category, media are reporting the regulator that oversees e-commerce is talking with major players about modifying a controversial policy that gives consumers the right to unconditionally return most merchandise within a week of buying it. In the latter category, other media reports say the broadcasting regulator is continuing an ongoing campaign to rein in online video sites by limiting their ability to operate dedicated program channels similar to traditional TV. Read Full Post…
Former online clothing high-flyer Vancl is making yet more cuts to its business, as it pursues its dream of finding sustainable profits and making an eventual public listing. Both goals could come sooner rather than later, especially since IPOs by Chinese web firms have suddenly become an investor favorite again on Wall Street, as reflected by new data on the second-quarter IPO market. Such an offering could be compelling if Vancl really has become profitable, since it’s a clear leader in the highly competitive but still somewhat niche area of clothing e-commerce. Read Full Post…
E-commerce leader Alibaba has always been a very active headline grabber, but these days its penchant for making news is getting a bit out of control, reflecting an M&A strategy that also looks increasingly overcharged and lacking focus. One might compare Alibaba these days to a creature that has suddenly developed a huge appetite and is devouring everything in sight. That’s my assessment today based on the company’s involvement in 3 major headlines, one involving web browsers, another electric cars, and a third that’s actually related to its core e-commerce services.
Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) is wasting little time in its search for synergies with its growing stable of strategic partners, with word of a new tie-up between its popular WeChat instant messaging service and its search partner Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). The new partnership will see WeChat provide exclusive access to its huge volumes of user-generated content for indexing by Sohu’s Sogou search engine. The alliance comes just 9 months after Tencent and Sohu announced an equity tie-up that saw the 2 companies combine their search businesses to form China’s third largest player. Read Full Post…
UPDATE:Following original publication of this post, I was informed that Tencent wasn’t among the buyers of shares that raised $1.8 billion in JD.com’s IPO. Tencent did buy $1.3 billion worth of JD.com shares through a concurrent private placement at the time of the IPO, raising its stake in JD.com to 20 percent.
JD.com execs talk up June 18 event
E-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) was well represented in the microblogging realm this past week, generating debate about the company’s surprisingly high valuation following its listing last month in New York. Meantime, electric car (EV) sensation Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) also got some new buzz from big-time booster Li Xiang, founder of the recently listed Autohome (NYSE: ATHM), who disclosed the launch of a new app and talked about the EV maker’s strong early China sales. Read Full Post…
E-commerce leader Alibaba is back in the headlines with its purchase of a stake in a Singaporean parcel delivery company, continuing its hyperactive acquisition spree that seems increasingly lacking in focus. Meantime, another e-commerce tie-up that I wrote about earlier this week has formally happened, with word that a new series of e-commerce channels run by JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) has begun to appear on one of the top screens for users of Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular WeChat mobile messaging service. Read Full Post…
With its new IPO now firmly in the past, e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) is finally getting back to business as it seeks to challenge industry leader Alibaba. Two of its newest moves in that drive both look quite exciting, and are part of its recent equity tie-up with leading social networking company Tencent (HKEx: 700). One of those has JD making a major personnel move in its underdeveloped C2C e-commerce business that it recently acquired in the Tencent tie-up. The other has JD on the cusp of launching a major new sales channel over Tencent’s wildly popular WeChat mobile messaging service. Read Full Post…
