After a 4 year cycle that saw China’s group buying sector first boom and then crash spectacularly, we could finally see an IPO soon from Meituan, which has emerged as the industry’s leader and a true survivor. Media are reporting that Meituan is close to getting $100 million in new funding — an admirable feat in the current climate that has seen investors largely shun the group of former high flyers. That investment would come just weeks after leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700) purchased 20 percent of Dianping, another strong player that has emerged in the group buying space. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Perhaps I was a bit hasty a couple of weeks ago in declaring that a new IPO plan by online real estate company E-House (NYSE: EJ) for its Leju unit looked like the recycling of an old listing that flopped and was eventually privatized. Since that initial announcement, E-House has followed with a couple of new plans for Leju, both involving collaboration with Tencent (HKEx: 700), China’s biggest Internet company. In the latest of those, E-House has just announced that Tencent will become a strategic investor in Leju, paying $180 million for 15 percent of the unit. (company announcement) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 22-24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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EU, China End Wine Dispute Ahead Of Xi’s European Tour (English article)
I don’t usually offer direct investment advice in this space, but today I can’t resist opining that perhaps investors are being a bit hasty in dumping shares of China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) after the nation’s dominant wireless carrier reported its first annual profit decline in more than a decade. The decline shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, since China Mobile reported an 8.8 percent profit decline in the third quarter. Obviously falling profits are never something investors want to see. But in this case it’s also worth noting that China Mobile has responded to the challenge with a number of new initiatives that show it is finally waking up to a new reality where it faces growing competition from the private sector. Read Full Post…
Two of China’s leading Internet companies are taking their first baby steps outside their home market, with word that online game maker NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is moving into the US and fast-rising discount e-commerce firm Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) is tying up with a Russian partner. The pair are joining China’s “big 3” Internet firms, Alibaba, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Tencent (HKEx: 700), in making recent moves outside their home market, as each looks for new growth opportunities. All of these companies also want to convince the world that they can compete in the real world outside their own highly protected and heavily restricted home market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 20 To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei Targets 80 Mln Smartphone Shipments In 2014, Aims For No 2 Spot (Chinese article)
China Telecom, Unicom New Users Drop Sharply In February (Chinese article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Announces Annual Results For 2013 (HKEx announcement)
ZTE9 Releases FunBox – the World’s Fastest Home Entertainment Console (Businesswire)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) To Partner With Russian Flash Sales Site (English article)
Solar panel maker Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) don’t normally have too much in common, other than the fact that both are based in China and come from the tech sector. But on this particular day, both are joined by the unflattering fact that their latest earnings reveal companies deeply mired in the red, sparking sharp drops in their share prices. Yingli’s situation certainly isn’t encouraging, though its issues look more temporary. Renren is a different story, and its latest numbers show the company won’t be able to survive on its own over the longer term and it would be well advised to start looking for a strategic partner. Read Full Post…
I’m quickly getting tired of writing so much about the flood of new initiatives coming from Internet leaders Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700), which is why I’m combining the latest word of new tie-ups for both into a single posting today. Frankly speaking, both of these initiatives look quite interesting and a year ago I would have done a separate posting and analysis for each. But these latest alliances look less interesting in the current frenzy of similar new announcements. One will see Alibaba partner with appliance maker Midea (Shenzhen: 000333), and the other Tencent and educational services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU). Read Full Post…
A yearlong explosion in new financial services from non-financial companies took a pause last week, when the central bank put the brakes on a plan by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) to offer virtual credit cards in partnership with Citic Bank (HKEx: 998). The sudden rush into financial services by private firms has provided some much-needed competition for China’s stodgy traditional lenders, most of which are state-run banks noteworthy for their lack of innovation. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700), New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) In Online Education JV – Sources (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 762) Announces 4G Plans Starting At 76 Yuan Per Month (Chinese article)
Online Classifieds Site Ganji Very Profitable, Considering IPO – CEO (Chinese article)
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Reports Q4 and Full Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Wins Final Ruling from US ITC in FlashPoint Case (Businesswire)
I wasn’t historically a big fan of JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce firm, largely because it often seemed more interested in hype than actually doing good business. But the company’s recent tie-up with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), and now the latest word of a new partnership with more than 10,000 convenience stores, have me thinking that perhaps JD has finally matured a bit in the run-up to a planned New York IPO to raise up to $1.5 billion. This latest convenience store tie-up looks quite shrewd for a number of reasons, most notably because it takes aim at one of the biggest weaknesses of its chief rival, leading e-commerce firm Alibaba. Read Full Post…
