Bottom line: Shares of BAIC and Dalian Wanda will be flat over the next few months after weak trading debuts, while Linekong shares will open down 5-10 percent if they debut before year-end.
Dalian Wanda dips in IPO
The year-end flurry of IPOs happening in Hong Kong is sputtering, with the 2 biggest offerings by shopping mall operator Dalian Wanda (HKEx: 3699) and car maker BAIC Motor (HKEx: 1958) both making weak trading debuts. That doesn’t bode too well for one of the year’s final remaining IPOs for Linekong, since other companies from the highly competitive video gaming sector haven’t done very well in their similar recent listings in Hong Kong. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China is positioned to become a global leader in development of open platforms as an Internet business model, but regulators should take a more active role in overseeing these marketplaces.
Ctrip joins open platform rush
China is quickly becoming a global leader in a type of online business that uses an open platform model at its core, with travel stalwart Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) becoming the latest entrant into the space after years of operating a more traditional closed platform service. While traditional closed platforms see website operators sell products directly to consumers, open platforms let operators simply manage online marketplaces where consumers can shop for products from a wide range of third-party merchants. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Citic Bank Buys BBVA’s Stake In Financial Unit For $1.05 Bln (English article)
Billionaire Wang’s Dalian Wanda (HKEx: 3699) Property Firm Falls in HK Debut (English article)
MIIT Says To Issue 4G FDD-LTE Licenses Next Year (Chinese article)
NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ) Board Authorizes Up to $80 Mln Share Buyback (PRNewswire)
Enlight Media (Shenzhen: 300251), Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) Form Online Video JV (English article)
Bottom line: Dianping or Meituan is likely to mount an IPO bid next year, in a deal that could value either at around $5-10 billion and win a premium as China’s first group buying site to list.
Meituan gets new mega-funding
China’s newly consolidated group buying sector could be close to making its first IPO, with word that leading operator Meituan is on the cusp of landing a massive $700 million in new funding. Such a huge amount would be the company’s fourth round of funding since 2010, and would follow not long after it reportedly raised $300 million earlier this year. That kind of funding frenzy often comes just before an IPO, which leads me to expect we could finally see Meituan become China’s first publicly listed group buying Internet company with a New York IPO perhaps in the first half of next year. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new alliance between SMIC and a leading Chinese chip tester in the buyout of Singapore’s Stats ChipPac could be the latest signal of a Beijing-led drive to consolidate China’s chip sector.
SMIC joins group buying Stats ChipPac
The semiconductor world is buzzing today on news that a Jiangsu-based company will buy Singaporean semiconductor chip maker Stats ChipPac (Singapore: STAT), but what caught my attention was the name of leading Chinese chip maker SMIC (HKEx: 981; NYSE: SMI) as a member of the buyer group. I’ve been saying for many years now that China’s semiconductor sector is sorely in need of consolidation, but that such an overhaul is often blocked by the local stakeholders who often eschew mergers as they look after their own interests. Read Full Post…
Quiet has fallen over much of the blogosphere in this week before Christmas, though buzz was lingering around smartphone sensation Xiaomias it wrestled with a patent dispute that threatened to halt its nascent overseas expansion. Xiaomi chief Lei Jun was also full of congratulations for his company as it scored a court victory that partially lifted an order banning the sale of its phones in India. Meantime, Lei’s many friends and admirers were offering their congratulations as Xiaomi’s co-founder celebrated his 45th birthday.
Meantime, another courtroom battle saw the chief executive of online cosmetics seller Jumei International (Nasdaq: JMEI) reacting to a series of class action shareholder lawsuits filed against his firm last week. This kind of lawsuit is quite common, and usually comes anytime bad news causes a stock to suddenly drop. Still, the case was obviously an eye-opener for Jumei CEO Chen Ou, and serves as a good reminder of the many dangers that await Chinese tech firms that list overseas. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Group Buying Site Meituan Lands $700 Mln Series D Funding – Sources (English article)
Changjiang Electronics (Shanghai: 600584) Offers $780 Mln For Stats ChipPac (English article)
Huace Film (Shenzhen: 300133) Invests In Korea’s Next World Entertainment (Chinese article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) To Offer Free Voice Calling With New Internet App (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) To Launch Own-Brand Products, No Smartphone Plans (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Fosun is prepared to up its latest bid for Club Med by another 20-30 percent, while Anbang needs to be careful in its investments to avoid ending up with a portfolio of overvalued, underperforming assets.
Fosun ups Club Med bid
Two of China’s most active institutional investors are in the headlines today, led by a new sweetened bid from private equity giant Fosun International (HKEx: 656) as it competes with an Italian group to buy French vacation resort operator Club Med (Paris: CU). Meantime, another recently acquisitive investor Anbang Insurance is back in the headlines, with word that it’s boosted its stake in Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988 Shanghai: 600016), China’s oldest and largest privately owned lender. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Haitong’s new share offer is capitalizing on strong sentiment toward brokerages and could be used to fund an overseas purchase, while Wanda’s theme park foray looks too aggressive and is likely to run into problems.
Haitong raises $3.9 bln in share sale
Big fund-raising is in the headlines today as we head into the end of 2014, with real estate giant Dalian Wanda continuing to talk up its upcoming blockbuster IPO as Haitong Securities (HKEx: 6837; Shanghai: 600837) takes advantage of positive market sentiment to make a major new share float. Both plays come as Hong Kong and the US get set to officially wrap up a banner year for fund raising by Chinese companies, fueled by strong investor sentiment. Everyone is racing to finish their fund raising before December 31, since the first quarter of the year is typically a quiet period for such activity and there’s no guarantee this wave of positive sentiment will last into 2015. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: 2015 will see an acceleration in 4G services, with China Telecom and Unicom winning commercial FDD licenses in the first quarter and 2-4 VNO licensees potentially emerging as real rivals to the big 3 telcos.
4G set to take off in 2015
A number of telecoms stories are in the headlines today, highlighting the huge hopes everyone has for new 4G services that will open up the market to a wide array of new products. Leading the headlines are word that China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and Unicom (HKEx: 763; NYSE: CHU) have gotten the green light to expand their trial 4G networks, as the nation’s 2 smaller mobile carriers play catch-up to industry titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL).
At the same time, another new report is showing the pathetic state of under-utilization for China Mobile’s 3G network, which uses a homegrown technology that has been plagued with problems. Finally there’s a third report saying the telecoms regulator has just issued its fifth and possibly final batch of virtual network operator (VNO) licenses, creating several dozen new carriers that will compete in in 4G by leasing capacity on the networks of the big 3 telcos. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 20-22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Fosun (HKEx: 656) Raises Offer For Club Med (Paris: CU) (English article)
Waldorf Buyer Anbang Invests In Property, Banking Stakes (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Targets 250 Mln 4G Users By End Of 2015 (Chinese article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Stock Rebounds, Confirms Buffett Hasn’t Sold Down Stake (Chinese article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Launches Open Platform For Travel Agents (Chinese article)
