The ongoing cleanup of neglected Chinese firms from US stock exchanges continues, with word that online game developer Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) has finalized its plan to go private. A report on the bid says that several other Chinese online game firms are also planning privatizations, as former industry leader Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is also in the midst of its own such bid. It’s not hard to see why these companies are going private, as their shares have gone nowhere for years due to anemic growth. But what’s interesting here is the prospect that some of the private equity firms funding this wave of buy-outs could finally force a few of these companies to merge and create a more vibrant major new player with real growth potential. Read Full Post…
I’ve refrained from writing before about Shanghai’s ongoing brouhaha over taxi apps, mostly because it seemed too local and didn’t have any broader significance beyond the unruly adoption of a new technology. But Shanghai’s latest move forbidding cabbies from taking new orders while they still have passengers seems worth writing about, as it speaks to a broader issue that looks like simple greed at first but is really a much larger part of the modern Chinese psyche. Read Full Post…
All my previous predictions that e-commerce leader Alibaba would ultimately make its mega IPO in Hong Kong were wrong, with word that the company is now firmly fixed on New York for its highly anticipated share sale. In my defense, I should say that a huge surge in positive sentiment over the last 5 months towards China Internet stocks on Wall Street undoubtedly helped to change Alibaba’s mind. The company had previously stated on numerous occasions that Hong Kong was the preferred venue for its blockbuster IPO, which reports are now saying could raise up to $15 billion, making it the world’s biggest Internet offering since Facebook (Nasdaq; FB) raised $16 billion in 2012. Read Full Post…
Word that Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) CEO Dick Costolo is making a trip to China just 4 months after his company’s IPO will almost certainly set to world tweeting about whether the social networking giant could be considering a play for the world’s largest Internet market. Such a move seems just a tad unlikely in the very near future, since Costolo has previously said that China isn’t a place where Twitter can operate due to the country’s tough self-censorship laws. But much has happened in the last 4 months that could be causing him to re-think his position, including the recent entry to China by corporate networking giant LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and the upcoming $500 million New York IPO for Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, often called the Twitter of China. Read Full Post…
I have a lot of respect for Tencent (HKEx: 700), China’s largest Internet company and now one of the world’s most valuable web firms based on the meteoric rise in its stock over the last few years. But that said, I’m starting to have some concerns about the company’s future due to its sudden move into many unfamiliar areas, including the latest which reportedly has it looking to buy a cellphone maker. In a somewhat ironic twist, Tencent’s cellular foray would come just a couple of months after Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the world’s largest Internet company, admitted failure with its own cellphone adventure by selling its Motorola Mobility unit at a major loss.
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo Files For $500 Mln US IPO (English article)
Central Bank Halts Virtual Credit Cards Of Alibaba, Tencent (HKEx: 700) (English article)
Alibaba To Submit IPO Application As Early As April – Sources (Chinese article)
Mobile E-commerce Site Maimaibao Gets $200 Mln Funding – Sources (English article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Shuts Group Of WeChat Public Accounts For Violations (Chinese article)
Barely a week goes by these days without a new “flavor of the day” for China’s acquisitive Internet titans, who are moving their focus to video content makers with 2 big new acquisitions by Alibaba and LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104). These deals are somewhat logical, as most of China’s biggest Internet names now own Internet video and TV products and these content providers can help to supply exclusive material for those operations. But if history is any indicator, this kind of in-house production is almost certain to fail because it strips these content makers of the flexibility they need to survive by selling into a competitive marketplace. Read Full Post…
Many of China’s biggest tech leaders were chattering in cyberspace last week from Beijing, where they were gathered for this year’s National People’s Congress and the related Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as the lianghui. Lei Jun, CEO of handset sensation Xioami, was uncharacteristically low-key in talking about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as was Li Dongsheng, the soft-spoken CEO of leading TV maker TCL (HKEx: 1070; Shenzhen: 000100). But the marketing savvy Xiaomi was still up to its usual publicity tricks, helping to spread a series of photos showing Robin Li, founder of search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), using a Xiaomi handset in one of the sessions. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Half Of IBM (NYSE: IBM) Workers Quit At Shenzhen Plant, 20 Fired (Chinese article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) In Talks to Purchase Handset Manufacturer – Sources (English article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Prices $550 Mln Convertible Notes, 1.14 Mln ADSs (PRNewswire)
Coke (NYSE: KU) Worries Over Draft Law On Bottled Water Labeling (Chinese article)
Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN) Reports Q4, Full Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
The Internet world is buzzing today with word that Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700), China’s 2 dominant Internet firms, are among the first group of 10 companies to receive banking licenses as Beijing opens the sector to private competition. From a macro-economic perspective, the move is certainly a welcome one for China and should provide some much-needed competition for the nation’s stodgy state-run lenders that now control the sector.
But from an individual company perspective, I really can’t see how traditional banking fits into either Tencent’s or Alibaba’s core Internet business, and worry a bit that this new initiative could ultimately distract these companies from their main focuses. I do expect that Tencent may ultimately follow its recent strategy of spinning off businesses and move its bank into a separate company, which looks like the right move. Alibaba would be well advised to do the same, though founder Jack Ma has shown a tendency for wanting to keep all his companies under one roof. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba To Acquire ChinaVision Media (HKEx: 1060) For HK$6.24 Bln (Chinese article)
Hershey’s (NYSE: HSY) Kisses Brand Hits $100 Mln In China (Businesswire)
