Online travel site Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) has just become the latest Chinese Internet company to announce a mega-bond offering, taking advantage of its market-leading status to raise up to $500 million. While the bond itself is interesting, the more intriguing matter is what Ctrip plans to do with the funds. The company says that acquisitions is one possibility, leading me to speculate the company could purchase a stake in fast-rising rival Qunar, or even purchase the company outright. Read Full Post…
As the solar panel sector continues its painful overhaul, signals are emerging about who will survive the downturn and thrive when the industry returns to health. Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) certainly seems to be one of the strongest players coming out of the retrenchment, with word that the company has sold 4 more plants that it constructed to private buyers. Canadian Solar is quickly emerging as a strong executor of this particular strategy, which sees it construct power plants using its own solar cells and then eventually selling those plants to private sector buyers. Rival Suntech (NYSE: STP) also tried such a strategy, but poor execution made it backfire and dragged the company into bankruptcy. Read Full Post…
China’s return to work following the weeklong National Day holiday has seen a sudden acceleration in the IPO plans by leading online classified advertising site 58.com, which has just made its first public filing for a New York listing. Interestingly but certainly not surprisingly, the company has suddenly turned profitable just in time for the listing. At least some Chinese media are questioning the sudden move into the profit column, and indeed such swings are often the result of creative accounting done to boost investor demand. Still, the offering looks like a potentially interesting one, following the successful debut of online game developer Forgame (HKEx: 484) in Hong Kong last week. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lenovo (HKEx: 992) In Talks To Acquire HTC (Taipei: 2498) – Report (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Announces Proposed Offer Of $500 Mln Convertible Notes (PRNewswire)
New reports are saying that Dongfeng Motors (HKEx: 489), one of the nation’s top automakers, remains committed to diversifying beyond its 2 core Japanese partnerships by seeking a major new equity tie-up with France’s Peugeout (Paris: PEUP). Dongfeng’s worries are easy to understand, since most of its sales come through its joint ventures with Japanese automakers Honda (Tokyo: 7267) and Nissan (Tokyo: 7201). That dependence has made its sales quite volatile over the past year due to boycotts of Japanese brands by Chinese buyers during a territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo. The pain being felt by the Japanese titans has provided a strong opportunity for US rival Ford (NYSE: F), a longtime laggard which is on track to match or even pass the 2 of Japan’s big 3 automakers in China this year. Read Full Post…
Forever bicycles look for relevance in 21st century
As a longtime foreigner living in China, I’ve always been intrigued by the local fascination with famous brands, or mingpai, and how much weight such names carry among local consumers. Brand names are also important for westerners, but they seem to take on a much bigger importance among Chinese — often to the point where a name becomes more important than the actual product. Read Full Post…
It’s a relatively slow news day as much of China returns to work after the weeklong National Day holiday, so I thought I’d have some fun trying to read between the lines of a low-key announcement about a new Greater China chief at ILFC, the world’s biggest aircraft leasing company owned by US insurance giant AIG (NYSE: AIG). The naming of industry veteran Peter Chang as ILFC’s new Greater China head certainly underscores the importance of the market, which is ILFC’s largest in the world. (company announcement) But more intriguingly, perhaps the announcement hints that a previously announced deal to sell ILFC to a group of Chinese investors may still be alive, despite some major turbulence that saw the buyers miss several deadlines earlier this year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yum (NYSE: YUM) Warns China Sales Unlikely To Rise In Q4 (English article)
58.com Turns Profitable Before IPO As Advertising Expenses Fall (Chinese article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), Sogou Search Traffic Share Up in September (English article)
Ford (NYSE: F) Comes From Behind In China To Stun Japanese Rivals (English article)
AgBank (HKEx: 1288) Gets Approval For Frankfurt Branch (HKEx announcement)
I had to look to my dictionary for answers for this week’s Street View, after reading a local report that Shanghai has banned several exotic animals from sale in local markets and restaurants for health reasons. It turns out the ban applies to some seafood varieties that weren’t quite as exotic as I’d expected, including a type of hairy clams and a popular marinated shrimp dish. The reasons for the ban were simple, as these particular creatures, when improperly or even properly prepared, can pose health hazards. Read Full Post…
I want to mark this week’s return to work for most of China with a look at 3 new foreign partnerships announced over the past week, 1 each involving home appliance maker Haier (Shanghai: 600690), the Twitter-like Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo and telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063). All 3 of the tie-ups are different in nature, but they do look innovative and encouraging and should have positive implications for each company’s future development. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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