Solar panel maker LDK (NYSE: LDK) started its long march to a takeover by the state with a major stake sale this week, but the equally cash-starved Suntech (NYSE: STP) looks like it may put up a bigger fight to maintain its independence. What’s happening at Suntech comes down to a single word: Pride. The latest twist at Suntech also has broader implications, as the kind of pride we’re seeing from founder Shi Zhengrong could foreshadow similar resistance we’re likely to see at many of the nation’s other solar panel makers.
Search Results for: ant
Suning Links With Vancl, 24Quan Shutters 苏宁易购联手凡客诚品 24券暂时停业
New signs of consolidation are appearing in the overheated in e-commerce and group buying spaces, with Suning.com (Shenzhen: 002024) again emerging as a potential major consolidator in e-commerce as a mid-sized group buying site named 24Quan closes up shop. The e-commerce news is easily the more interesting of these 2 bits, as China’s group buying sector has largely run out of cash by now and most players are tottering on the brink of insolvency. By comparison, the e-commerce field is backed by a big number of cash-rich companies like Suning, Alibaba and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), which have indicated they are prepared to lose big money for a long time to defend and build their positions in a country likely to become the world’s biggest e-commerce market in the next 5-10 years.
Cable Consolidation Gets Money, Licenses 中国有线电视行业整合扑朔迷离
A recent flurry of new reports is hinting that a state-led consolidation of China’s fragmented cable TV industry is moving ahead, but also that the campaign may be meeting with some resistance from provincial governments reluctant to cede assets to a Beijing-based national operator. Despite that resistance, I suspect that this consolidation will probably succeed in the end since Beijing really wants it to happen. But the new operator may have to cede a lot of autonomy to its various provincial level units, meaning it could have difficulty competing with China’s 3 major telcos which have stronger central coordination.
LDK Joins State-Led Solar Bail-Out 江西赛维加入政府主导的救助行列
The nascent state-led bailout of China’s struggling solar industry has taken another step forward with word that LDK (NYSE: LDK) has just sold a big chunk of itself to a partly state-owned consortium for enough cash to perhaps fund its operations for another month or 2. This new rescue package values LDK at just $140 million, which is probably still too high a figure for one of China’s weakest solar panel makers in an industry where everyone losing big money due to a huge supply glut.
China Retail Slows As New Mega-Shops Open 中国零售业放缓 大型零售店继续开张
The China retail scene is buzzing with conflicting signals from these last few weeks, as established names like Tesco (London: TSCO) sound negative notes amid a rapid economic slowdown, even as newcomers like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Forever 21 open massive new stores. In fact, there really aren’t too many contradictions in this latest news, since these new mega-stores were probably in the planning stages before China’s economic slowdown began. Thus these newer stores are more indicators of investments for the future rather than bets on the present.
Bank of China Joins Beggars Queue, More to Come 中行或拉开新一轮银行融资潮序幕
After a flurry of capital raising in the beginning of the year, China’s banks have been silent over the last 6 months despite my previous predictions that 2012 would see a big flurry of money raising by these financially-challenged companies. But now that silence has abruptly ended with word that Bank of China (HKEx: 3988; Shanghai: 601988), one of the nation’s top 4 lenders, is preparing to raise about 23 billion yuan, or around $3.7 billion, through a subordinated bond offering. (English article) So now the question becomes: is this the beginning of a new flurry of fund-raising by China’s banks? The answer is a definite “probably”, though in this case we’ll probably simply see the banks that didn’t raise capital late last year or early this year engage in new fund raising.
Sina Weibo: Losing Its Edge? 新浪微博：正失去其优势？
I have to admit that I’m becoming just a little bit confused by all the user data coming from China’s top 3 microblog operators, which seems to paint a slightly different picture from the one that Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) would like everyone to believe about the dominance of its popular Sina Weibo service. My attention was first drawn to the subject by a new media report in which NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) says its microblogging service now has more than 260 million registered users, up sharply from 180 million just 2 months earlier. (English article) That number seemed to be a big narrowing of the gap with Sina Weibo, which had 360 million registered users at the end of June.
China’s Speeds Up Solar Lifeline 中国加大力度扶持光伏行业
A new Chinese media report shows that after more than a year of talk, Beijing is finally turning its aggressive talk on solar energy into action by more than doubling its approval of new solar power plants this year. The main question now is: Will any of its struggling solar panel makers survive long enough to enjoy the expected boom in business when some of these new plants start to get built. Of course industry watchers will know the answer is probably “yes”, as Beijing and local governments get set to hand out generous rescue packages to support these companies through a massive supply glut that has sent prices plunging and left everyone reporting big losses. (previous post)
Haier: A Model to Follow With F&P Deal 海尔：中国企业海外并购的榜样
The brief but colorful tale of one of China’s better-executed overseas M&A deals appears to be nearing a happy ending, with word that home appliance giant Haier’s (HKEx: 1169) slightly sweetened takeover bid for Fisher & Paykel (NZ: FPA) has finally won approval from the New Zealand company’s board. Haier’s raised bid of NZ$1.28 per share appears to be just the right amount it needed to convince F&P’s board to approve the deal, marking a 7 percent increase over an initial offer of NZ$1.20 per share. (English article; Chinese article) I’ve had nothing but praise from the start for Haier in its handling of this deal, which looks like a good template for other Chinese companies to follow.
US Security Takes Wind Out of Sany 美国考虑安全否决三一重工风电项目
The national security excuse has become the flavor of the day in Washington, with a wind farm funded by an affiliate of heavy machinery giant Sany (Shanghai: 600031) making headlines as the latest US-based Chinese project to be vetoed on grounds it could compromise US security. (English article) Meantime, the bigger news story involving a Congressional report that says telecoms equipment from Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) poses a risk to US security continues to bubble into the headlines, this time with the White House denying that its own investigation into that matter appeared to exonerate Huawei. (English article)
Huawei’s Hollow Victory, ZTE’s Slashes 华为空欢喜 中兴难脱困
It wouldn’t be proper if I went for more than a day or 2 without examining the latest news bits from the embattled telecoms equipment duo of Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), which have suffered a non-stop stream of setbacks in the last few months. Of course most readers will know that the pair received their biggest blow just a couple of weeks ago when a US Congressional panel ruled that their networking equipment posed a national security threat and thus should be blocked from sale in the country. (previous post) More bad news came earlier this week for ZTE, which announced it would post a massive loss in the third quarter, marking its first-ever quarterly loss since going public and wiping out all of its profits for the year. (previous post)
