Bottom line: Tencent’s strong early showing for a new WeChat-based advertising service and its investment in a take-out dining service reflect building momentum in its drive to build WeChat into a major new profit center.
BMW, Coke launch ad campaigns on WeChat
A couple of media reports are shining a spotlight on Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) WeChat, and some of the new steps it is taking to monetize the hugely popular service that is rapidly expanding beyond its roots as a mobile messaging service. At the same time, another report from Tencent itself is providing some insight into who exactly uses WeChat. It should come as no surprise that the report shows WeChat’s biggest fans are young and mostly male users, which are some of the most attractive targets for the online merchants and advertisers that Tencent wants to do more business on the platform. Read Full Post…
Leading restaurant ratings site Dianping has been making steady headlines these last 3 months, including the latest reports that it’s investing in an app that lets users order and pay for take-away food over their smartphones. The tie-up looks relatively modest and has Dianping investing about 50 million yuan ($8 million) in Dazuiba, whose name means “big mouth” in Chinese. More broadly speaking the deal seems to reflect a few recent trends for Chinese Internet M&A, including the rapid disappearance of attractive targets and a growing preference for strategic investments instead of outright acquisitions. Read Full Post…
A couple of restaurant deals are in the news this week, reflecting the big potential of China’s dining-out market as consumer tastes broaden beyond fast-food. One deal has an investment arm of luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton buying a Singaporean restaurant chain with a big China presence, while the other has leading restaurant ratings site Dianping buying an online take-out dining platform. But China’s growing taste for wine could be starting to slow, with word of another major deal involving the struggling Dynasty Fine Wines (HKEx: 828), one of the country’s leading domestic producers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Cheetah Mobile Makes Additional IPO Filing, Discloses Q1 Results (Chinese article)
Baosteel, Aurizon (Sydney: AZJ) Bid For Aquila In $1.3 Bln Iron Deal (English article)
Tencent Buys 11.28 Pct Of NavInfo (Shenzhen: 002405) For 1.1.7 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
Dianping Invests in Food Ordering Site Ele.me (English article)
