For the latest news on U.S.- and Hong Kong-traded Chinese stocks, visit our new Bamboo Works site.
Media/Entertainment
youngchinabiz.com : latest Business news about Media – Entertainment in China by expert / journalist Doug Young : more than two decades of experience in writting about Chinese Companies
Bottom line: Wanda chief Wang Jianlin could purchase a controlling stake in MGM as he looks to take over a Hollywood studio, while his Wanda Dalian property IPO will get a tepid reception but perform well over the longer term.
Wanda’s Wang Jianlin eyes Lions Gate, MGM
Property magnate Wang Jianlin is used to getting what he wants, but 2 new headlines indicate his Wanda Group may have to settle for compromise in a pair of its latest forays, one involving a Hong Kong IPO and the other involving his desire to purchase a major Hollywood studio. The former headline has Wang reportedly scaling back plans for a mega IPO in Hong Kong for Dalian Wanda, his group’s flagship property arm. The second and more intriguing news item has him seeking to buy a controlling stake in a major Hollywood studio, with Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) and MGM mentioned as 2 possible candidates. Read Full Post…
A seasonal year-end rush of IPOs by Chinese firms moved into high gear late last week, when media reported that top movie chain operator Wanda Cinema Line and social networking up-and-comer Momo Inc had taken major new steps in their listing plans. The pair would join nuclear plant builder CGN Power, Beijing-based automaker BAIC and real estate developer Dalian Wanda, which were also in the headlines last week, in a year-end fund-raising frenzy that could raise more than $10 billion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Chen Tianqiao’s sale of his Shanda Games stake marks his symbolic exit from online entertainment, and he will probably return to deal-making by setting up his own private equity firm.
Chen Tianqiao steps down from Shanda Games
The slow-motion breakup of the online entertainment empire of Shanda Interactive has taken a major step forward, with news that the company is selling its entire stake in its core online gaming unit. The news follows previous reports that Shanda Interactive had reached a deal to sell a controlling stake in its Cloudary online literature unit, and its sale earlier this year of a controlling stake in its struggling Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) online video unit. All of this comes as Shanda Interactive’s chairman and founder Chen Tianqiao looks to disband his empire that was an early leader in online entertainment, but later languished as it was overtaken by rivals like NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China should completely up its film market to foreign participation, following recent liberalizing steps that have resulted in a boom in cross-border tie-ups.
Hollywood falls in love with China
The mayor of Los Angeles called on Chinese leaders to ease their restrictions on imported movies during a visit to Beijing last week, seeking better access for a product that is one of the most lucrative US exports to China.
The fact is that China has already taken big steps over the last 2 years to open its movie theaters to overseas products, as both foreign and domestic producers chase a fast-growing market that is now the world’s second largest behind only the United States. At the same time, a growing number of foreign filmmakers are getting improved access to the market through co-investments with Chinese partners, including joint ventures and joint production agreements. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A weak debut for eHi reflects waning investor enthusiasm for Chinese IPOs, while a new $585 million investment in Huayi Bros reflects strong growth prospects for the independent filmmaker.
eHi IPO sputters out of the gate
A flurry of fund-raising events are in the headlines today, led by a weak trading debut for car rental specialist eHi Car Services (NYSE: EHIC) and a big capital infusion for Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027), one of China’s leading independent film makers. Rounding out the activity are reports confirming that smartphone high-flyer Xiaomi has made its largest investment to date, spending $300 million for a stake in iQiyi, China’s second largest online video site owned by Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba’s new mega bond will pressure it to find good uses for its huge cash pile, while Tencent’s Warner Music tie-up is part of a new wave of deals to monetize its SNS platforms.
Alibaba plans mega bond offer
Leading Internet companies Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) are both in the headlines today with major new deals, spotlighting their growing need to stay in the news to remind investors why they are valued so high. The larger of the 2 news bits has Alibaba planning to raise a hefty $8 billion through a bond offer, while the other has Tencent in a major new tie-up with Warner Music, one of the world’s top record labels.
I was mostly impressed by the sheer size of Alibaba’s bond offer plan, which is easily the largest I’ve seen by a Chinese Internet company. Tencent launched its own $5 billion bond program earlier this year, but has had to offer the notes in several tranches due to the huge size. (previous post) Baidu raised its own $1.5 billion in a bond offer 2 years ago, and in June announced plans for another major offering without specifying any specific fund-raising targets. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Shares of Sina and Youku Tudou will continue to be laggards due to their cloudy outlooks, and Youku Tudou could face even greater pressure if it doesn’t sell itself to a larger buyer like Alibaba.
Sina’s Q3 results fail to excite
Today marks the high point of the third-quarter earnings season for Internet companies, with leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and top online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) posting results that didn’t impress investors too much. Both companies reported operating losses for the quarter, even though each managed to pare those losses from previous periods. But the bottom line for Sina was anemic growth in its core advertising revenue, while Youku Tudou’s biggest trouble sign came from ballooning costs. Youku Tudou isn’t being helped either by an ongoing government crackdown against online video operators. Read Full Post…
A recent brouhaha in the US over the naming of an outsider as New York’s new celebrity “ambassador” got me thinking about who could fill the role of a similar city spokesman for Shanghai. After all, such a spokesman is a great promotional tool for big cities like New York or Shanghai to outsiders, representing many positive and distinctive aspects of local culture like language, mannerisms, and general attitude.
But what happened next was quite unexpected, as queries to several friends made me realize that Shanghai doesn’t have too many people who could fill such a role, despite its status as China’s biggest city. My friends explained that most aspiring actors and musicians now gravitate to Beijing, and a Shanghai pedigree is no longer worth very much despite the city’s past as the Hollywood of the east. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Xiaomi’s new $1.5 billion funding is smaller than expected but gives it a strong valuation, as its small investments in Youku Tudou and iQiyi look like a smart way to quickly build up its product ecosystem.
Xiaomi gets rich valuation from new funding
There’s no shortage of news this week on hyperactive smartphone sensation Xiaomi, which is showing up at least 3 major headlines as it lands major new funding and explores potential tie-ups with China’s top 2 online video sites as well as faded smartphone pioneer BlackBerry (Toronto: BB). I almost have to catch my breath after writing all of that, as any one of these 3 stories would normally qualify as major news. The fact that all 3 are coming at the same time testifies to Xiaomi’s ability to do big deals, and its charismatic CEO Lei Jun may soon take the title for China’s most hyperactive tech leader from the current holder of that title, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Shanda is likely to sell a controlling stake of its Cloudary online literature unit to an outside buyer, possibly Tencent, as part of a drive to hand over management of its major units to strategic partners.
Shanda’s Cloudary in rumored sale
The slow-motion break-up of former online entertainment high-flyer Shanda Interactive is back in the headlines, with reports the company has sold its online literature unit to Internet heavyweight Tencent (HKEx: 700). This particular rumor looks logical enough for reasons I’ll give shortly. But I’ve heard so many rumors about sale of part of all of Shanda over the past year that I’ll only believe this latest report when we hear an official confirmation. What’s clear from these latest reports is that Shanda founder and chairman Chen Tianqiao continues to look for opportunities to sell part or all of his company, as he reportedly grows restless with his lackluster businesses whose growth has stalled. Read Full Post…
In the absence of big company news so far this week, I’ve decided tolook at the scorecard for the flood of technology IPOs over the last 12 months and what it might say about what’s ahead into next year. The record so far looks quite good in general, especially for companies that made a flurry of New York offerings at the end of last year and whose shares have mostly doubled or more since then.
But one notable exception to the trend is mobile games, as 2 of the 3 major players to make recent listings are now squarely in negative territory. That doesn’t bode well for a 3 upcoming similar listings, 1 in New York and 2 in Hong Kong, which appear to be stalling due to the cool investor sentiment. Read Full Post…
