The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
US To Get Coveted Alibaba IPO After Hong Kong Talks Founder (English article)
5S Accounts For 91 Pct Of New iPhone Sales In China, 5C For 9 Pct – Report (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
China Probes Against Foreign Pharma Unfair: EU Business Lobby (English article)
Xiaomi Launches New Mi3 Smartphone, To Sell For 1,999 Yuan (Chinese article)
Alibaba to Invest in Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Video Business – Source (English article)
US Unlikely To Block Shuanghui Purchase of Smithfield (NYSE: SFD) (English article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Closes Offering of $600 Mln of Convertible Notes (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════x
China Investigates More Top PetroChina (HKEx: 857) Executives Over Corruption (English article)
It seems the word “imminent” can have several different meanings when it comes to M&A among Chinese Internet firms. In most cases, it means “very soon”, which seems to be the case with reports that a deal is imminent for e-commerce giant Alibaba to purchase video sharing site PPTV, also known as PPLive. Meantime, the word can also sometimes mean “a long time” or perhaps even “never”, which is the case for a deal that has seen reports appear several time for an imminent sale of Sogou, the search engine owned by web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), to several different buyers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
China Cash Squeeze Eases, But Bank Shares Take Big Hit (English article)
I have to commend Alibaba founder Jack Ma for his ability to keep his company in the headlines with growing frequency lately, as he seeks to build hype in the run-up to the e-commerce leader’s massive IPO. At the same time, however, Ma runs the very real risk of media burnout if his company continues to flood the market with this steady stream of news bits, even if many of them are truly newsworthy. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
GalaxySecurities (HKEx: 6881) Soars 11 Pct In Debut After $1.1 Bln HK IPO (English article)
Sovereign Funds, China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939) Buy Into Russia’s VTB (English article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Partners with Etao to Introduce Shopping Search (English article)
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) Reports Q1 Unaudited Results (PRNewswire)
Pactera (Nasdaq: PACT) Board Forms Privatization Plan Review Committee (PRNewswire)
There’s lots to say about word that Internet portal operator Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) is selling its Sogou search unit to industry leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), starting with the strong possibility that this latest in a sudden string of rumors about Sogou may be true. Sogou’s chief executive has already said publicly the unit was for sale, naming Baidu as one of the leading bidders. The only slight contradiction in the mix comes from comments by Charles Zhang in an interview late last week, which I’ll return to shortly. Read Full Post…
After years of inactivity, China’s Internet sector has seen a sudden flurry of M&A deals with potential to consolidate the fragmented space and create some truly world class companies that could one day compete with the likes of Amazon and Google. While commercial factors are mostly behind this sudden M&A spring, Beijing could also play a limited role by encouraging more consolidation, helping to lay the foundation for a vibrant and sustainable Internet sector that could become a global leader. Read Full Post…
Internet security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is in the headlines much more than most companies of its size, sometimes for positive news but equally often for its controversial business tactics that many might consider bordering on the unethical. Against that backdrop, it’s interesting to see that Qihoo has just announced a new government tie-up that looks like an effort to improve its image in the marketplace. That announcement has Qihoo saying it will provide enterprise Internet security solutions to the Commerce Ministry, a major government body. (company announcement)
Interesting new rumors are appearing in the media about a possible alliance between 2 of China’s most up-and-coming search engines, Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou and Qihoo 360′s (NYSE: QIHU) So.com. While such an alliance looks very smart and could mount a serious challenge to longtime industry leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), I would be seriously skeptical that anything will ever happen. The main obstacle is simple, and is the same obstacle that prevents mergers and other strategic tie-ups from happening more broadly in China’s Internet world: big egos. In this case, we’re talking about 2 of the Chinese Internet world’s biggest egos who are notoriously difficult collaborators, namely Sohu’s chairman chief executive Charles Zhang and Qihoo’s founder and chief executive Zhou Hongyi.