The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Probes Pricing At Drugmakers Including GSK, Merck (English article)
China Merchants Bank (HKEx: 3968) Sets Up Online Branch On WeChat (Chinese article)
HKEx Approves AgBank (HKEx: 1288) To Issue $5 Bln In Medium-Term Notes (HKEx announcement)
Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU), Sogou Increase Search Traffic Share in June (English article)
Beijing Praises Baby Formula Brands for Price Reduction (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 8-10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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UK Lawmakers Say Huawei-BT (London: BT) Deal Exposes Flawed Security Controls (English article)
Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU), Sina (Nasdaq: YOKU) Collaborate On Content Promotion (PRNewswire)
Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle Reader Makes Formal China Launch (Chinese article)
Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou Denies Reports Of Acquisition By Alibaba (Chinese article)
US Food Workers Union Comments On China Poultry Plant Disaster (Businesswire)
Just 2 weeks after reporting that web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) had broken off talks to buy PPTV, a sudden flurry of new reports have appeared saying several other companies are bidding for the online video company, including leading e-commerce firms Alibaba and Suning (Shenzhen: 002024). Rather than reflecting PPTV’s attractiveness, I suspect this sudden flurry of talks is being driven by a impatience among its shareholders who have pumped big money into the money-losing company but have received little returns so far. If that’s the case, I would expect to see PPTV acquired most likely by the end of this month, though perhaps at a far lower price than the investors were originally seeking. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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LightInTheBox Sets IPO Price Range, To Raise Up to $87 Mln (Chinese article)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Announces Results For Fiscal Q4 (HKEx announcement)
Softbank Says Won’t Use Huawei Equipment After Sprint (NYSE: S) Buy (Chinese article)
Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Talks To Buy PPTV Collapse Over Price (Chinese article)
Levono (HKEx: 992), Jingdong Partner on 3C Service and Maintenance (English article)
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…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 18-20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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I’ve written too much recently about neglected web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), but the latest rumors of a potential tie-up between the company and PPTV, operator of one of China’s leading video websites, are just too irresistible for me to ignore. Those rumors say Sohu is in talks to combine its own online video business with PPTV to create one of the nation’s top 3 players. News of such talks comes just a couple of weeks after leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) purchased another top video site, PPS, for $370 million, and indicates a new wave of consolidation in China’s Internet space may be gaining momentum. 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…
A sudden flurry of activity has caught my attention at Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of China’s oldest Internet portals, which has splashed into the headlines several times in the last couple of months after years of being ignored by investors. What has most caught my attention most this time around was a comment in one of the recent reports that Sohu founder and Chairman Charles Zhang was recently experiencing some kind of emotional fatigue, which leads me to wonder if the company may be headed for a breakup. Read Full Post…
Less than 2 weeks after buying a major stake in leading Chinese microblogging site Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, e-commerce leader Alibaba is back on the acquisition track with word that it’s on the cusp of another deal to buy a similar strategic stake in mapping services firm AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP). While this newest deal would be a bit smaller than the Weibo tie-up, it marks the latest transaction in a nascent M&A wave among China tech firms that looks set to gain momentum during the rest of the year. Read Full Post…
The ongoing game of musical chairs in China’s online search space is continuing this week with word that Internet portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) wants to sell its Sogou unit, operator of China’s third largest search engine. While many of the previous rumors of consolidation in the search space have looked dubious to me, this one actually looks like it could be credible for a number of reasons I’ll detail shortly. If it’s true, I would also commend Sohu for making a shrewd move by getting out of a crowded market where it has limited resources and expertise compared with other players. Read Full Post…
