Bottom line: Dalian Wanda’s de-listing plan from Hong Kong is likely to succeed, while eLong could re-list in China and become the travel services provider for WeChat following its New York privatization.
Dalian Wanda joins homeward migration
A trio of new headlines are part of the recent homeward migration of offshore-listed Chinese companies, led by a highly anticipated $4.4 billion offer to privatize property giant Dalian Wanda (HKEx: 3699). Also making news is faded online travel agent eLong (Nasdaq: LONG), whose shareholders have just approved a privatization that will soon end its 12-year-old listing in New York. Finally there’s film production house Yongle Film and Television, which would have been a strong New York IPO candidate in a earlier era but is now in the process of making a backdoor listing in Shenzhen. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 28-30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: Tencent’s new disclosure that it processes more than 500 million daily mobile financial transactions highlights its rapid growth in the space, pushing market leader Alipay to accelerate its own expansion into Asia.
WeChat wallet creeps up on Alipay
It’s rare to see Internet giant Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) tech-savvy but reclusive chief Pony Ma do interviews or make public appearances, so when he does it’s always reason to take notice. In this case Ma has disclosed new figures that show just how rapidly Tencent is moving into the mobile financial transactions business, rapidly encroaching on an area previously dominated by Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) affiliate Alipay. A separate headline also reflects to some extent the pressure that Alipay is feeling, with reports that its parent Ant Financial is accelerating its recent move into several major Asian markets. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: Shanda’s purchase of 12 percent of LendingClub reflects its new investment focus on global financial services, while Tencent’s pursuit of a major Finnish game maker is consistent with its previous M&A strategy.
Tencent eyes Finland’s Supercell
Major outbound M&A deals involving 2 of China’s largest private firms are in the headlines today, with new moves by private equity investor Shanda and Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) reflecting their latest buying priorities. The first deal has Shanda buying a large stake in LendingClub (NYSE: LC), the peer-to-peer (P2P) US lending pioneer whose shares have tumbled recently due to a scandal involving some of its loans. The other headline has Tencent looking to take control of Finnish game maker Supercell, in a deal that would be its biggest acquisition of all time valued at several billion dollars. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) in Talks to Buy Supercell Stake From SoftBank, WSJ Says (English article)
Huawei Sues Samsung (Seoul: 005930), Demands Royalties on Phone and Tablet Tech (English article)
Chinese Billionaire Chen’s Shanda Buys 11.7 Pct of LendingClub (NYSE: LC) (English article)
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) May Push Back Plan for China Manufacturing (Chinese article)
Baidu-Affiliated (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi Plans Backdoor A-Share Listing Next Year (Chinese article)
Bottom line: A backdoor listing plan by SF Express in Shenzhen, a New York IPO plan by China Music Corp and 3 new China OTC listings by ZTE units reflect creative approaches to new listings by Chinese firms due to bottlenecks for traditional IPOs.
SF Express eyes backdoor listing
A trio of IPO stories in the headlines are quite revealing, as none are happening through traditional channels on China’s 3 main stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Instead, the largest of the 3 plans has parcel delivery giant SF Express eyeing a backdoor listing using a shell company from the minerals business. Meantime, music streaming company China Music Corp has popped up across the Pacific in New York, where it is reportedly planning an IPO that could be the largest of its kind this year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China Mobile’s retirement of its Internet-based texting and video services reflect its inability to compete with private providers of such services, and underscores its growing position as a slow-growth network operator.
China Mobile shutters Internet text, video services
In a move that was long overdue, leading wireless carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has thrown up the white flag with a symbolic surrender to WeChat, Youku and the many other private companies that have steadily stolen its new business opportunities. In this case the surrender comes in the form of formal retirements for China Mobile’s Internet-based Fetion texting service, and also its lesser known mobile video product.
Fetion was once hugely popular in China, allowing users to send SMS text messages for free by routing them over the Internet. China Mobile was an early innovator in creating that kind of “over the top” (OTT) service that took advantage of the mobile Internet. But more recently it has rapidly lost that position to more nimble private companies like Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Youku. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Ma Cancels Speech After Row With Anti-Counterfeiting Group (English article)
Bottom line: Tiger Brokers could see strong growth by banking on Chinese demand for US and Hong Kong stocks, but also faces some risk if Beijing decides to regulate the company as a financial firm.
Tiger Brokers eyes Chinese with appetite for US, HK stocks
I’m kicking off my new series on noteworthy venture-backed companies with the fast-growing Tiger Brokers, which is feeding off a Chinese love of stocks and growing demand for access to overseas markets. In the current climate where China’s own stock markets have become quite volatile and prone to big sell-offs, Tiger’s gateway to the US and Hong Kong stock markets could prove a potent draw to Chinese traders looking to diversify their portfolios with international stocks from more mature markets.
In a small but highly symbolic footnote to this story, Tiger is also finally giving Chinese investors access to many of China’s hottest companies that are traded overseas, including the Internet “big 3” of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (HKEx: 700). That could ultimately provide some upside for many of those stocks over the longer term, since Chinese investors are likely to boost trading volumes for many of these homegrown companies whose shares previously languished due to lack of familiarity among western investors. Read Full Post…
Some 4 years after disappearing from the headlines, a fourth telecoms carrier formed from China’s numerous regional cable TV companies is finally making a formal debut with its receipt of an official license to offer telecoms services. That means the new company, China Broadcasting Network Co (CBN), could theoretically shake up China’s laggard telecoms services industry that has been monopolized for years by the trio of state-run giants, China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA).
But anyone hoping for big change shouldn’t get too excited, since CBN is cut from the same cloth as the existing 3 state-run telcos. What’s more, the new company is likely to be plagued with internal power struggles, at least initially, since it was created from a patchwork of provincial cable TV companies whose former stakeholders may still try to exert some influence. Read Full Post…
