News from e-commerce giant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) and web portal Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) indicate a long-awaited consolidation in e-commerce has begun at the bottom of the Internet food chain, where many smaller players are quietly closing up shop as big names continue their aggressive fight for market share.
Search Results for: ant
Dianping’s New Funding: M&A in Sight? 大众点评融资意在收购
It’s Monday morning and the news flow from the weekend is rather slow due to the summer holidays, so I’m going to be a bit whimsical and comment on the potential for new M&A following a new $60 million funding round for Dianping, an interesting and profitable company which started as a restaurant ratings company but which has also expanded into the problem-plagued group buying space. I’ll start by saying I have absolutely no reason to think Dianping has plans for any major M&A, but then will quickly add that its recent receipt of the $60 million in new venture funding looks suspiciously like it might be intended for such a purchase.
US Partners Flee Troubled ZTE 中兴遇美国顾问卸任
A key US consultant has severed his ties with troubled telecoms equipment and cellphone maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), in a worrisome development that could presage more similar defections as people seek to distance themselves from the controversial company. ZTE and crosstown rival Huawei were already facing a difficult time in the US and Europe for several trade- and security-related reasons, but ZTE’s outlook grew dimmer still last month when word got out that the company was being investigated for allegedly selling banned US computer equipment to Iran to help that country set up a sophisticated telecoms surveillance system.
VanceInfo, HiSoft Set Stage for M&A Wave 文思信息和海辉软件奠定并购潮基础
A new mega-merger between China’s two largest software outsourcing firms could lay the foundation for a new global powerhouse in the lucrative IT services sector, marking the second major corporate marriage in China this year between two industry leaders. More of these kinds of marriages are sorely needed to clean up fragmented high-tech sectors marred by rampant competition, but to make that happen many of China’s most vibrant entrepreneurial companies need to lose their mom-and-pop shop mentality and learn to act more like the major corporations they aspire to become.
Suntech: A Company in Free-Fall 尚德电力陷入死亡漩涡
Solar pioneer Suntech (NYSE: STP) was all smiles earlier this week when it announced an important sales milestone in North America, even as its outlook continued to dim amid a major fraud case that has spawned a new class action lawsuit against the company. (lawsuit announcement) Before I get to the latest details in this case, I want to step back quickly and look at the bigger picture, which is this: Suntech looks like a company on the cusp of falling off a cliff, potentially setting the stage for an acquisition by one of its rivals or even a potential bankruptcy.
Hotels: Stability and Indigestion at the Inn 中国经济放缓未损及经济型酒店稳定运营
I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but China’s top 3 US-listed hotel operators have all released their latest quarterly results on the same day, revealing a range of issues with a broader theme that points to stability in the industry despite China’s rapidly softening economy. The results from Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN), China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT) and 7 Days Group (NYSE: SVN) all tell slightly different stories, as each chain faces its own different issues. Based on my quick read, China Lodging seems to look the best right now, while Home Inns struggles with its recent mega-acquisition of Motel 168 and 7 Days faces operational issues.
“Titanic” Director Splashes Into China 知名导演卡梅隆进军中国
Hollywood’s growing love affair with China continues to steam ahead with word that James Cameron, director the blockbusters “Titanic” and “Avatar”, is setting up a joint venture in the city of Tianjin. Unlike the growing number of Hollywood companies that have flocked to China this year, Cameron’s venture won’t offer any mass-market products to consumers and instead will focus on supplying technology to Chinese filmmakers to help them make more 3D moves.
Caterpillar Joins China Export Crawl 卡特彼勒加入中国装备出口潮
US construction equipment giant Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is taking an interesting new direction in China, following in the path of a growing number of firms that once relied on domestic sales but are now turning their attention to exports to offset a slowing home market. China’s big domestic car makers like Chery and Geely (HKEx: 175) have also increasingly looked to exports to offset their rapidly slowing sales at home, where they face not only weakening demand but also stiff competition from more experienced foreign competitors like GM (NYSE: GM) and Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG).
SMIC: Respectable Earnings, But No Respect 中芯国际：收益可观，但不被追捧
Investors once held out big hopes for China’s biggest chip maker SMIC (HKEx: 981; NYSE: SMI) when it went public back in 2004, but reaction to its latest earnings continue their more recent indifference to this giant that seems unable to earn respect from anyone. That’s my main conclusion after SMIC released second-quarter results that showed an encouraging return to profitability, as well as third-quarter guidance that looked stable despite the weaker Chinese and global economies. SMIC’s US-traded shares were largely unchanged after the report came out, dipping 1.6 percent and reflecting to me what looks like investor indifference over this disappointing giant that once held so much potential.
Shanghai Street View: Reclaiming the Entertainment Crown
Dear readers: Today marks the launch of Shanghai Street View, a new series of commentaries with a flavor of Shanghai, the city where I live and work. Shanghai Street Views will cover a range of topics, many of them centered around business themes in keeping with the broader tone of Young’s China Business Blog. My aim in writing is to try and capture some of what makes the city special, both the good points as well as the less-than-perfect, as Shanghai tries to reclaim its place as one of Asia’s financial and cultural hubs.
* * *
Even as Shanghai reeled this week under the double-whammy of lashing rains from Typhoon Haikui and an Olympic disappointment from hometown hurdling superstar Liu Xiang, the city was basking in a more subtle glow as it moved yet another step closer to reclaiming its long-lost title as the Asia’s entertainment hub. News that the city would soon be home to a new $3 billion, western-backed theme park may have been lost in city’s top headlines, which instead focused on the Haikui’s pounding winds and rains and Liu’s stumble in a qualifying race that ended his quest for gold at the London Olympics.
Banks: Citi Grows, ICBC Tries Dim Sum 花旗推积极扩张计划 工行首发点心债
Beijing’s new openness to global banks is leading a growing number of foreign lenders to test the China market, with US giant Citigroup (NYSE: C) becoming the latest to announce an aggressive expansion plan to tap the new open atmosphere. At the same time, China’s own banks are continuing their own global expansion by offering a wider array of yuan-denominated services to foreign investors, with leading bank ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) making its first major offering of so-called dim sum bonds in Hong Kong. The 2 trends are both part of China’s efforts to build a world-class financial services industry as it tries to wean its banks from their history of policy-based lending to big state-owned enterprises and make them more commercially driven.
