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Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) latest Business and Financial News , by former Reuters journalist Doug Young based in China.

News Digest: November 11, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ China’s Sinochem Planning Up To $5.5 Billion Shanghai IPO (English article)

◙ Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to make buyout offer for ERA Mining (HKEx: 8043) (English article)

◙ SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) Announces Q3 Results (PRNewswire)

◙ Renren (NYSE: RENN) Announces Unaudited Q3 Results (PRNewswire)

◙ China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT) Reports Q3l Results (PRNewswire)

Kaixin Raises Profile in Renewed IPO March 开心网一改低调有意再次赴美上市

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The normally low-key Kaixin, China’s second largest social networking system (SNS), has suddenly raised its profile with a stream of headline-making announcements, in what looks like a bid to drum up publicity in the run-up to a revival for its US listing plan that got shelved earlier this year. In two separate pieces of news, domestic media are citing unnamed sources saying that Kaixin has agreed to form a social gaming joint venture with Shanda (Nasdaq: GAME), one of China’s leading leading online game operators (English article); and the company itself has made a relatively ho-hum announcement of another tie-up with a US company called Message Systems to strengthen the messaging platforms on its site. (company announcement) Those two news bits come just a week after media reported, and the company partially confirmed, that leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700) had taken a stake in Kaixin, joining a group of previous investors that included Sina (Nasdaq: SINA). (previous post) The recent flurry of news also follows a rare press conference led by media-shy Kaixin founder Cheng Binghao in August, where he addressed reports that the company’s business was slowing. (previous post) The company had previously been in a race with Renren (NYSE: RENN), China’s biggest SNS operator, to make an IPO earlier this year, but lost out in that contest. Reports indicated Kaixin was ready to finally go public during the summer, but may have temporarily shelved the plan amid a broader wave of negative sentiment towards China stocks due to concerns over accounting practices. Now that the negative sentiment seems to have faded and is more neutral, this recent flurry of activity mentioning big-name players like Shanda and Tencent, looks like Kaixin is trying to drum up excitement in preparation to relaunch its IPO bid. Pending any unforeseen changes in the market, the timing actually looks quite good, and an offering in the next month would probably do well. It certainly couldn’t do worse than money-losing Renren, whose shares initially after their May debut, but are now down nearly 60 percent from their offer price, caught up in the negative China sentiment.

Bottom line: A recent flurry of activity indicates Kaixin is gearing up to relaunch its delayed IPO, which should do well as negative sentiment towards China stocks subsides.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Kaxin Buys Time With Tencent Tie-Up 开心网与腾讯合作堪称一箭双雕

◙ Renren Discovers Microblogging Too Late

◙ Gaopeng, Kaixin Spotlight China Internet Turmoil 高朋网、开心网凸显中国互联网混乱现状

Kaxin Buys Time With Tencent Tie-Up 开心网与腾讯合作堪称一箭双雕

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Kaixin, one of China’s top social networking service (SNS) sites, has discovered that Wall Street doesn’t necessarily like money-losing companies and has turned instead to Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) for a cash infusion that looks like a shrewd move as China’s Internet bubble shows signs of correcting. A company spokesman has confirmed receiving the investment, though he wouldn’t elaborate on the size or nature of the tie-up. (English article) From my perspective, this is exactly the kind of investment that all money-losing Chinese web firms should be seeking, rather than rushing to make IPOs that simply tell the world how much money they are losing and forcing them to focus more on becoming profitable rather than building their business. The new tie-up with Tencent comes after another Chinese Internet leader, top web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), has already invested in the company, giving Kaixin two very potent partners to help it build up its SNS business, whose growth founder Cheng Binghao previously said is starting to slow. (previous post) Like many of its Internet peers, Kaixin was previously gearing up to make a New York IPO, even though it was still losing money; but this Tencent investment appears to signal it has shelved those plans for the moment in favor of building up its business and waiting for sustained profitability before going public. Kaixin’s main rival, Renren (NYSE: RENN), was among a group of money-losing China web companies that went public starting late last year when their shares were in big demand from investors keen to buy into the China Internet growth story. Since then, however, sentiment has cooled considerably to all US-listed China firms, partly due to realization that China’s Internet was a bit overhyped. After jumping 30 percent on its trading debut in May, Renren’s shares have moved steadily downward and are now trading 60 percent below their IPO price. By bringing in Tencent as a new investor, Kaixin is not only giving itself more time to become profitable, but once it does go public should also avoid the kind of volatility that Renren has seen.

Bottom line: Kaixin’s new investment from Tencent looks like a good tie-up, and will give it more time to become profitable and avoid an unfriendly IPO market for China Internet stocks.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Gaopeng, Kaixin Spotlight China Internet Turmoil 高朋网、开心网凸显中国互联网混乱现状

◙ Renren Results: A Mixed Bag for Everyone 人人网业绩：苦乐参半

◙ Sina’s Latest Weibo Move Looks Like SNS 新浪似要发展社交网站

HK Woes Point to Shanghai Sell-Off Next Week 港股跌宕起伏沪深後市堪忧

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China’s struggling stock markets are taking a much-needed weeklong break for the National Day holiday, but weak sentiment has continued unabated in Hong Kong, where the stock market tanked earlier in the week and shares of premier brokerage Citic Securities (HKEx: 6030) stumbled badly in their first trading debut outside China. The Hong Kong board started off the week in free-fall, shedding 7.6 percent on Monday and Tuesday before staging a rally on Thursday. But it was still down 2.4 percent at the start of the Friday trading day, and the volatility clearly reflects investor angst over what will happen when trading resumes in Shanghai and Shenzhen next Monday, with more sell-offs likely. In the midst of the chaos, shares of Citic Securities (Shanghai: 600030), the first in a string of high-profile listings of major state-connected firms aimed at propping up the markets, stumbled out of the gate, losing as much as 10.5 percent from their IPO price on their first trading day before finishing the day unchanged, even as the broader market rallied 5.7 percent. (English article) The weak debut, which came after Citic Securities already scaled back the offering and priced its shares at the low end of their range, bodes poorly for a number of other major state-run firms lining up to go public, including Sany Heavy Industries (Shanghai: 600031), which is also planning a listing in Hong Kong, and China Communications Construction, which is planning a Shanghai listing. (previous post). Meantime, the weakness has led two premier Hong Kong-listed China Internet names, Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Alibaba.com (HKEx: 1668), to do the once unthinkable and actually buy back their shares (Tencent article; Alibaba article). They join a list of peers that has so far included many mid-sized US-listed China tech firms like Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Renren (NYSE: RENN) but has yet to see the likes of top names like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) resort to such buy-backs. But if the current sell-off continues, we might even see these big names join the buy-back frenzy, showing just how low sentiment has sunk towards China plays, especially Internet stocks.

Bottom line: China’s stock markets will fall when trading resumes next week, extending sell-offs in Hong Kong and New York while Chinese markets were closed for the October 1 holiday.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Beijing IPO Campaign to Boost Markets Falls Flat 大宗IPO提振中国股市或成泡影

◙ China Offers Up Premier IPOs to Revive Markets 大企业沪港上市 政府借机重燃沪港生机

◙ CITIC Securities $2 Bln IPO Looks Good, With Potential to Jumpstart HK 中信证券香港IPO值得期待

Alibaba: The Little Genie That Roared?

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This week will see a limited offering of commentaries during China’s National Day holiday, starting with the latest provocative words on and about Alibaba Group, including Jack Ma’s latest interest in global expansion and critical words about the controversial Alibaba chairman from another major web executive. Jack Ma mildly surprised the world over the weekend when he declared that his company is “very interested” in Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the struggling global search player which also happens to own 40 percent of Alibaba. (English article) The context of his remarks strongly implied that Ma was interested not only in buying back Yahoo’s 40 percent Alibaba stake, but also in potentially buying Yahoo itself. If such an outcome came to pass, it would certainly look like a “Mouse that Roared” scenario, a reference to the 1959 movie that sees a tiny European nation declare war on the US, and then go on to win. In this case, I could easily see Ma joining a group of private equity or other investors that eventually goes on to buy out Yahoo, and then Ma being named as Yahoo’s new CEO. Whether this is a good idea is a different matter. Ma has little or no experience running a major global company like Yahoo, and his time might be better spent staying at home to tend to his only listed company, China’s biggest B2B marketplace Alibaba.com (HKEx: 1688), which is also struggling. There’s also no reason to believe that Ma can succeed where a group of seasoned big-name Western executives before him have failed in the campaign to revive Yahoo. But that said, perhaps Ma’s outside perspective could be just the medicine to turn Yahoo around. If he ends up taking over, I would still peg his chances of success at just 20 percent, but not rule out success completely. In the second development, Joe Chen, CEO of Renren (NYSE: RENN), often called the Facebook of China, has lashed out at Ma and Alibaba for greatly contributing to the current confidence crisis in US-listed China stocks through his controversial spin-off of Alibaba’s e-payments unit, Alipay, earlier this year. (English article) I won’t go into all the background here (previous post), but Chen may have a point to some extent, as the high-profile misstep captured global headlines for several months and spotlighted the questionable business tactics used by many Chinese firms. Still, it might be a slight exaggeration to blame Ma for such a systemic problem, and as I said last week, the sell-off that has seen many US-listed China companies share prices tank in the last few months now looks more like a long-overdue correction in their overinflated share prices. (previous post)

Bottom line: A successful bid by Alibaba’s Jack Ma to take over and run Yahoo would likely end in failure, with only a 20 percent chance of success.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Yahoo: A Good Time to Break From Alibaba? 雅虎与阿里巴巴分手时机还不成熟

◙ Alibaba.com Blows Smoke With HiChina Spin-Off Plan 阿里巴巴网络分拆万网放烟幕弹

◙ More Internet Froth in Alibaba Valuation, Dangdang Price War 阿里巴巴估值奇高凸显网络泡沫

US China Stocks: Bloodbath Becomes Correction 在美上市中资股遭抛售 迈入股价修正新阶段

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The sell-off of US-listed China stocks accelerated on Thursday, with shares of premier names Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) each dropping around 10 percent after US media quoted a securities regulator saying his agency was looking into accounting fraud by US-listed Chinese firms. (English article) But after months of negative news and selling of these stocks, I’m convinced this sell-off is moving into a new phase that marks a long-awaited correction in unrealistic valuations for many of these companies during a massive run-up in their prices over the last few years fueled by China Internet hype. A closer look at the market will show that the Thursday sell-off was hardly broad-based but rather was largely limited to companies with overinflated valuations. Even after a sell-off that has seen its shares drop more than 30 percent in the last 3 of weeks, Sina shares still trade at a ridiculously high price-to-earnings ratio of 115 times earnings for the next 12 months. Baidu shares, which have lost a similar amount over the same period, now trade at a more reasonable but still high PE of 42. By comparison, online travel leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and leading social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) both saw their shares actually gain on Wall Street on Thursday, as each announced a share buyback plan of $100 million and $150 million, respectively. (Ctrip announcement; Renren announcement) Perhaps these buy-back announcements helped to protect Ctrip and Renren’s shares to some extent in yesterday’s sell-off; but more importantly, Ctrip now has a more modest valuation of 30 times earnings for the next 12 months, while Renren’s PE is negative as it’s still losing money. All that said, I think it’s highly unlikely that these bigger, industry leaders are the focus of regulatory investigations, which are mostly reserved for the smaller US-listed China firms without big-name accountants. Instead, this continued sell-off looks like it has turned into a much needed correction for overhyped Chinese stocks, which will continue until their valuations come down to more reasonable levels.

Bottom line: Investors who profited from a run-up in US-listed Chinese stocks over the last few years are seizing on a confidence crisis to pocket their gains.

在美上市中资股周四再遭抛售。美国媒体引述美国证券交易委员会一位官员的话表示，司法部正在调查一些在美国股票交易所挂牌的中资企业财务违规问题。受此影响，百度<BIDU.O>、新浪<SINA.O>等双双大跌约10%。不过，经过数月来的负面消息与相关股票的抛售，我认为中资股抛售正进入新阶段，开始修正过去几年来对这些企业逐渐形成的不现实估值。细看市场表现，你会发现周四中资股并非全面遭遇抛售，主要局限於估值过高企业。过去三周新浪股价虽已大跌超30%，但其未来12个月动态市盈率仍高达115倍。百度股价同期跌幅与新浪几乎相当，目前其市盈率为42倍，相对合理一些，但仍非常高。相比之下，中国国内领先的携程旅行网<CTRP.O>与社交网络人人网<RENN.N>周四实际逆势上扬。两公司均宣布股票回购计划，规模分别为1亿美元与1.5亿，也许回购计划在一定程度上帮助两公司股票在昨天的抛售中免遭一劫。但更重要的是，携程未来12个月动态市盈率为30倍，人人网由於仍在亏损，市盈率为负值。虽然如此，我认为这些行业领头羊不大可能是此次监管调查的焦点，调查重点可能主要集中在所用会计企业不太知名的、在美上市较小中资企业。此次继续抛售看起来正转变为中国概念股的修正，相关企业估值回到合理水平前，股价修正还会继续。

一句话：过去几年中利用在美上市中资股获利的投资者正抓住此次信任危机售股套现。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ US-Listed China Firms Fight Back — Finally 中国赴美上市公司最终还击

◙ Securities Regulator Seizes on US Confidence Crisis 中国证监会或介入企业海外上市

◙ Accounting Scandal Claims AutoChina As Second Big Victim

 

News Digest: September 30, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ China Internet Stocks Fall in New York on U.S. Investigation (English article)

◙ 55tuan Denies Rumors of 70% Workforce Cut (English article)

◙ Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Announces Up to $100 Million Share Repurchase Program (PRNewswire)

◙ Renren (NYSE: RENN) Announces US$150 Million Share Repurchase Program (PRNewswire)

◙ Court Upholds Verdict Against Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) in Tencent (HKEx: 700) Suit (Chinese article)

Renren Finds Video Bargain in China Web Bubble 人人网低价收购56网 凸显中国互联网困境

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Renren (NYSE: RENN), often called the Facebook of China, appears to have purchased up-and-coming video sharing site 56.com for a bargain price in its first major M&A, casting a spotlight on the growing pressure that young Chinese web firms are facing in the current Internet bubble. The Renren news, which saw it buy money-losing 56.com for a modest $80 million, is just the latest sign of a Chinese Internet under duress, with media reporting new mass layoffs at two additional firms, B2B marketplace operator DHGate and group buying site Groupon.cn, which is no relation to US industry leader Groupon. Let’s take a look at 56.com first. (company announcement) According to industry data, 56.com has about 66 million unique visitors and nearly 1 billion page views a month. Video sharing leader Youku (NYSE: YOKU) has about twice as many unique visitors, and 4 times as many page views. And yet even after the latest market sell-off, Yoku still has a market cap of $2.3 billion, or nearly 30 times what Renren paid for 56.com. Obviously traffic alone isn’t the only way to determine a company’s value, but in the Internet world it’s one of the best measures of its potential. Combine that with the fact that 56.com lost a relatively modest $500,000 in the second quarter, and this looks like a very good deal for Renren. Now let’s look at the latest layoffs, which again point to the incredible pressure that money-losing web firms are facing to quickly turn a profit or risk being forced to close or sell themselves at bargain prices to companies like Renren. Domestic media are citing a company employee in saying that DHGate, has laid off more than half of its technology and marketing staff, reportedly under pressure from major investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers which has cut off additional funding until the company can show some better financials. (English article) That news comes as domestic media are also reporting that Gaopeng.cn has laid off more than half of its staff (Chinese article), not long after Gaopeng, the group buying joint venture between US-based Groupon and China Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) made similar layoffs. Look for more of these mass layoffs, plus some sales of promising but money-losing web firms like 56.com at bargain prices in the months ahead as China’s Internet bubble works its way through a painful correction.

Bottom line: Renren’s purchase of a solid video sharing site at a bargain price, coupled with mass layoffs at two other web firms, are the latest signs of distress in China’s Internet bubble.

人人网(RENN.N)似已低价收购视频分享网站56网，这是人人网第一笔大规模并购案，凸显中国年轻的网络公司在目前互联网泡沫时代所面临的压力。人人网斥资8,000万美元，收购目前亏损的56网，是中国互联网业承压的最新迹象。另有媒体报导，B2B小额外贸批发平台敦煌网（DHGate）和团购网团宝网（Groupon.cn）将进行新一轮大规模裁员，後者与美国Groupon并无关联。我们先来看看56网。行业数据显示，56网约有6,600万名独立访客，每月页面浏览量近10亿次。视频分享领军企业优酷网(YOKU.O)这两个数据约为 56网的两倍和四倍。即使经历了近期的市场抛售，优酷网市值仍有23亿美元，是人人网收购56网价格的近30倍。流量显然不是决定公司价值的唯一依据，但 在互联网领域，这是衡量一个公司潜力的最佳标准之一。再加上56网第二季度亏损50万美元，收购56网对人人网来说是一笔不错的交易。再看看近期的裁员事件。这再次表明，亏损的网络公司面临诸多压力，要麽迅速实现盈利或被迫倒闭，要麽以低价出售给人人网等公司。国内媒体援引一名企业雇员 的说法称，敦煌网技术和营销部裁员逾半，原因是主要投资方Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers（KPCB）削减额外资金，除非敦煌网财务状况有所改善。国内媒体还报导称，继高朋网裁员不久後，团宝网也裁员逾50%。随着中国互联网业经历 痛苦修正，预计未来数月还将有更多大规模裁员，以及前景看好但目前亏损的企业被出售。

一句话：人人网低价购买视频分享网站56网，敦煌网和团宝网大规模裁员，这些都是中国互联网陷入困境的最新迹象。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ More Internet Froth in Alibaba Valuation, Dangdang Price War 阿里巴巴估值奇高凸显网络泡沫

◙ 360Buy IPO: Let the Delays Begin 京东商城放缓IPO进程

◙ Wal-Mart Finds Bargain in China’s Internet Bubble

Renren Discovers Microblogging Too Late

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Leading Chinese social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) has finally discovered microblogging, with the launch of a new service, called Xiaozhan, designed to emulate Twitter to complement its traditional SNS site that looks and feels more like Facebook. (company announcement) The only problem is, China already has a company called Weibo, a unit of leading Web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), which looks unstoppable as it signs up millions of new users each month and whose name has become interchangeable with microblogging in China. Rival microblogging sites operated by such big names as NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) have struggled to compete with Weibo, and Chinese search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) even shuttered its own microblogging site earlier this year, acknowledging it was unable to play in the space. (previous post) In fact, Weibo, whose Chinese name actually means “microblog” in Chinese, launched its own traditional SNS site, called Qing, last month, in a bid to leverage its huge popularity to steal business from Renren and other traditional SNS sites like Kaixin. (previous post) Some  might argue that Renren needs to fight back with its own microblogging service to offer a more complete social networking experience, and that it can leverage its traditional SNS platform to lure many of its subscribers to this new Xiaozhan service. I agree to some extent that Renren needs to find related services to leverage its user base to grow. But unless it can offer something revolutionary in microblogging, which I seriously doubt, I would advise the company to look for other new opportunities and leave this space for Weibo. Barring anything unusual, I would expect this new Xiaozhan service to struggle for its entire existence, and could see Renren quietly shuttering the service in the next 1 to 2 years.

Bottom line: Renren’s newly launched microblogging service is destined for failure in the face of  insurmountable competition from Sina’s Weibo.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Renren Results: A Mixed Bag for Everyone 人人网业绩：苦乐参半

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ New Weibo Makes First M&A Move 新浪微博并购忙

Gaopeng, Kaixin Spotlight China Internet Turmoil 高朋网、开心网凸显中国互联网混乱现状

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Signs of turbulence continue in China’s cutthroat and overinflated Internet space, with worrisome news coming from Kaixin, China’s second biggest social networking site (SNS), as well as Gaopeng, the group buying site operated by Groupon and Tencent (HKEx: 700). First Gaopeng. Despite its denials that anything is amiss, Gaopeng has just laid off 400 employees across its various locations, in what looks like the biggest in a steady stream of cuts that have made headlines in the Chinese media in recent weeks. (Chinese article) The company is facing intense competition from at least three major rivals, Lashou, Dianping and 55tuan, which collectively raised $500 million in venture funding earlier this year (previous post) and are clearly engaging in a cutthroat grab for share in this market that is certainly lucrative but lacks the size to support so many major players. I suspect that Groupon started up Gaopeng early this year to give itself a “China story” to please US investors in the run-up to its upcoming IPO. But now that it sees how cutthroat the market is, it could easily shutter Gapeng before the offering in a bid to hide what are undoubtedly some ugly financials from investors from this struggling joint venture. Meantime, Kaixin, which lost a race earlier this year with Renren (NYSE: RENN) to become China’s first publicly listed SNS, has broken a months-long silence to address recent reports of massive subscriber losses. The company’s low-key founder Cheng Binghao held an unusual media briefing in which he said Kaixin’s previous explosive growth rate is slowing to a more realistic level, and added the days of heady growth for China’s Internet may be finished. (Chinese article) Cheng said the company now has 117 million registered users, just behind Renren’s 124 million, though I suspect many of those are inactive, which Cheng hinted is the case. With that kind of a slowing growth story and the current general market turbulence, along with the threat of a new SNS service from Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) (previous post), I wouldn’t look for Kaixin to move ahead with its IPO until it has a better story to tell, which would be next year at the earliest.

Bottom line: Downbeat reports surrounding Gaopeng and Kaixin reflect a China Internet market in turmoil, with consolidation and few new IPOs likely through the rest of the year.

中国互联网急剧扩张的混乱状况持续，开心网和高朋网接连传来令人担忧的消息。先是美国Groupon和腾讯联合在华经营的团购网站–高朋网。尽管公司否认运营出现状况，但高朋网在各地站点已裁员400人，似乎是逐步裁员规模最大的一次，近几周高朋网裁员成为中国媒体热门焦点。高朋网面临团购市场竞争加剧的局面，大的竞争对手至少包括三家：拉手网、大众点评网和窝窝团，上述三家公司今年早些时候共募集5亿美元风险投资，也正积极投入团购市场的激烈厮杀。团购市场利润确实可观，但规模不足以支持如此多的大型团购网站。我怀疑，Groupon今年稍早成立高朋网时，是想给自己创造一个“中国故事”，从而在其IPO筹备阶段取悦美国投资者。但鉴于中国团购市场竞争激烈的现状，Groupon或在IPO前轻而易举地关闭高朋网，避免投资者看到这一合资公司中难看的财报。今年早些时候，开心网在赴美上市赛跑中输给人人网(RENN.N)，未能成为第一家在美国上市的社交网站。开心网打破一个月来的沉默，回应近期有关开心网用户大量流失的报导。开心网低调的创始人程炳皓罕见举行媒体吹风会，称开心网爆发性增长期已经过去，增长放缓至一个更实际的水平，并称中国互联网强势增长的时代或已结束。程炳皓透露，开心网现有1.17亿注册用户，稍低于人人网的1.24亿人，但我怀疑，其中许多并非活跃用户，程炳皓的表态似乎暗示了这一点。鉴于开心网用户增长放缓，目前市场普遍混乱，再加上新浪(SINA.O)微博的威胁，我认为，除非开心网能有更好的故事，否则不会推进其IPO，估计最早也要到明年了。

一句话：有关高朋网和开心网的负面消息表明，中国互联网市场现状混乱，今年内或将进行调整，不太可能有新的IPO。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina, Tencent Pose Threat in SNS, E-Commerce 新浪腾讯攻城掠地

◙ Advertising Squeeze Continues, Slowdown Looms 广告支出初显放缓迹象

◙ Gaopeng Lay-Offs Auger Ad Spending Downturn 1高朋裁员预示网络广告支出或大幅下降

 

Dajie, China’s Linked In, Breaks Out With New Funds

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While names like Renren (NYSE: RENN), Kaixin and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) battle it out for supremacy in the mainstream social networking space, another less-known name, Dajie, has quietly popped onto the scene with a new round of funding in its drive to become China’s version of professional networking site Linked In. Chinese media are reporting that Dajie.com, founded just three years ago, has received a round of venture funding in the neighborhood of $10 million from a respectable field of investors that includes Fidelity Growth Partners Asia and leading education services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU). (English article) Industry watchers will note that Linked In (NYSE: LNKD), which raised $350 million in a May IPO, isn’t blocked in China, but also that it hasn’t made an especially strong effort to cultivate the China market. Frankly speaking, I think the market for a more professional-type service like Linked In in China is probably relatively small, as most people who use SNS in China tend to be quite young and like to mostly chatter on these sites. But as these same young people grow up and move into white collar jobs, sites like Dajie could easily become a hot ticket in the China Internet market, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Linked In takes a serious look at China in the next 2 to 3 years as that happens, assuming that China doesn’t lock it out the way it has with other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. (previous post) Considering that Dajie is probably at least 2-3 years away from an IPO at the earliest, I’d say this is definitely a company to watch and one that could offer investors a good way to tap into the growing legions of young white-collar Chinese with increasing amounts of money to spend.

Bottom line: Dajie looks like a good player to watch in the underdeveloped field of SNS for professionals, and could become the country’s next Linked In following a new round of funding.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Linked In Braces for Lock Out, But Does It Really Matter?

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ Facebook’s China Tie Up: No Big Deal Facebook能否入华？