The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on March 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Zheshang, Tianjin Banks Underwhelm in Hong Kong Debut (English article)
Midea (Shenzhen: 000333) Pays 53.7 Bln Yen for 80.1 Pct of Toshiba’s Appliance Unit (Chinese article)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Reports Annual Results for 2015 (HKEx announcement)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on March 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Bets New 4-inch iPhone to Draw Converts in China, India (English article)
Huawei Matebook PCs Coming Soon, Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Rolls Out New Thinkbooks (Chinese article)
Opera CEO Says Didn’t Want to Sell Company to Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) (Chinese article)
Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) Says Working with Airlines to Restore Online Ticketing (Chinese article)
CMC Invests Tens of Millions of Dollars in SoccerWorld Sports (Chinese article)
Bottom line: The looming completion of buyouts for Qihoo 360 and Mindray Medical points to growing momentum for successful privatizations of other Chinese firms waiting to de-list from New York.
Qihoo, Mindray head back to China
Two of the largest in a wave of privatizations by US-listed Chinese firms have just taken big steps forward, with major new announcements from software security specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and medical device maker Mindray (NYSE: MR). One case has Qihoo announcing a formal date for a meeting where shareholders will vote on its plan to privatize the company. The other has Mindray announcing it has formally completed its own buyout plan, and has filed to have its shares de-listed from New York.
It’s quite significant that both of these plans are moving forward now, since China’s own stock markets where both Qihoo and Mindray hope to eventually re-list have been in a state of turmoil these days. That turmoil has seen the main Shanghai index tumble around 20 percent this year, and it’s quite possible that more turbulence lies ahead. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Qiyi’s new tie-up with Universal Music could presage its purchase of Baidu’s music unit, while Qihoo’s new video campaign is likely to stumble due to intense competition from existing players.
Qiyi ties with Universal Music
A couple of new reports are casting a spotlight on the rapid colonization of the video and music spaces by new media companies. The most intriguing of those has Qiyi.com, the online video site affiliated with search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), taking a major step into the music space through a tie-up with global entertainment giant Universal Music. The second has the aggressive Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) making a late but big push into the online video space via a major new hire.
Both of these stories reflect the big challenge that private companies are now posing to traditional TV and radio stations, as they rapidly challenge a state-owned establishment that held a monopoly on China’s entertainment sector for decades. The resulting boom in video and music services has been great for consumers. But in usual Chinese fashion the explosion has sparked another cycle of hyper-competition that has pushed everyone deeply into the red, and is almost certain to end with the typical bust in a few years. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new equity alliance between Qihoo and Norway’s Opera web browser is a smart move that could see initial turbulence due to differing management styles, but should ultimately benefit both sides.
Qihoo in group buying Opera
Security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is taking an important step towards its ambitions of becoming a global Internet brand, with word that it’s part of a group set to buy Norway-based Opera (Oslo: OPERA), maker of the world’s fourth most popular mobile Internet browser. Qihoo is already the maker of one of China’s most popular homegrown web browsers, and is also posing one of the first serious challenges in years to online search leader Baidu(Nasdaq: BIDU) with its Haosou.com engine. It’s also making a big push to move its highly popular security software products into the global marketplace.
Against that backdrop, this new deal looks quite intriguing and also like a smart step for Qihoo to complement its current strengths. But I would also caution that Qihoo is famous for its business tactics, which many might describe as highly aggressive and even unethical. Those include designing products that make big changes to computer and smartphone configurations without their users’ knowledge, most often to favor Qihoo at the expense of rival products. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A subdued mood at Chinese high-tech firms’ New Years parties reflects a growing realism that the days of breakneck growth may be over for many, due to stiff competition and a slowing domestic economy.
Subdued mood at Year of the Monkey parties
The Year of the Monkey is still more than a week away, but already online gaming giant NetEase (NYSE: NTES) is taking the prize for most unusual New Year’s party for including sex toys among its cache of prizes during the lottery at its annual bash. Meantime, stumbling smartphone sensation Xiaomi ushered in the New Year with an unusual dose of new realism from chief Lei Jun, who also added a bit of historical revisionism in a bid to cheer up staff at his annual party.
Theses yearly parties are a good indicator of how companies feel about their performance in the previous year, and also offer some insight into their mood going into the year ahead. A media report sums up highlights from some of this year’s biggest parties, which typically bring together hundreds and sometimes thousands of employees at a single event to celebrate the New Year as a corporate “family”. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Greater China Still Biggest Contributing Region as iPhone Sales Top Out (Chinese article)
China Cinda Said to Study Joining Yingli’s (NYSE: YGE) Debt Restructuring (English article)
Ericsson (NYSE: ERIC) Q4 Results Beat Expectations on China Rebound (Chinese article)
Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Pledges 10 Pct Stake to Encourage Staff Entrepreneurship (English article)
TAL Education (NYSE: XRS) Announces Financial Results for Its Fiscal Q3 (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 9-11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Ping An’s Online Finance Platform Lufax Wins $900 Mln Series B Funding (English article)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Making First Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Project Tango Phone (English article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Apologizes Over Fake Moutai Scandal (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Sports in Alliance with NFL American Football League (Chinese article)
Xiaomi Removes Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Products From App Store (Chinese article)
Bottom line: A new correction in China’s stock markets could derail many of the buyout offers for US-listed Chinese firms, leaving many orphaned in New York if Chinese financial markets enter a prolonged period of stagnation.
Perfect World in backdoor listing in Shenzhen
Online game operator Perfect World has become the latest Chinese firm to return home after leaving New York, with word that the company has made a backdoor listing through an affiliate in Shenzhen. But this latest re-listing comes at the same time that China’s stock markets look set for another big correction, a development that could pour cold water on the dozens of other US-listed Chinese firms waiting to privatize.
China’s stock markets tanked by a remarkable 12 percent in the first 4 trading days of 2016, including 2 days on which trading was halted by a circuit breaker that cut off all activity after the market fell by 7 percent. Some blamed the slide on the implementation of the circuit breaker program, which just began this year and was designed to prevent the kind of volatility that is now happening. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: iDreamSky’s finalized buyout offer marks the start of a new wave that will see more than a half dozen US-listed Chinese firms sign similar offers by the Lunar New Year, mostly at the same prices from original privatization deals announced last year.
iDreamSky finalizes buyout bid
The New Year is kicking off with a shot of deja vu, as a wave of companies that announced privatization bids in the first half of 2015 are now returning to investors with concrete offers. In the latest chapter of this two-part wave, mobile game operator iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY) has just announced its signing of a formal deal to take the company private.
iDreamSky announced its original intent to privatize last June, at the height of a wave that saw about 3 dozen such de-listing bids proposed last year, mostly in the first half. The wave of announcements skidded to a halt in mid June when China’s stock markets underwent a massive correction after an even larger rally. But with China’s markets showing signs of stability, the de-listing movement has resumed. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s global Internet conference this week was mostly empty pageantry, but it did reveal that Baidu might like to privatize from New York one day, and attracted a handful of China-friendly global executives.
Wuzhen Internet pow-wow mostly empty talk
China’s big Internet pow-wow this week in the picturesque town of Wuzhen hasn’t produced much news despite its big aspirations, reflecting Beijing’s tight control over cyberspace and companies that do business there. But the globally-minded event did produce at least one interesting tidbit on the recent privatization wave by US-listed Chinese companies, and also an entertaining photo of 2 top executives that went viral online.
The news item came from Robin Li, founder of leading Chinese search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), who hinted that he hopes to someday join the recent wave of Chinese companies now privatizing from New York due to undervaluation. The photo that went viral captured a humorous moment involving a catnap during the conference by Zhou Hongyi, the controversial and more often outspoken CEO of security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU). Read Full Post…
