I’ll start the day with a look at news on 2 M&A deals, one domestic and one international, that show how difficult such transactions still are for Chinese firms. The first involves what looks like a big step forward in oil major CNOOC’s (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO) bid for Canadian rival Nexen (Toronto: NXY), which is controversial only because of its political overtones. The second involves Agricultural Bank of China’s (HKEx: 1288; Shanghai: 601288) receipt of regulatory approval to buy a controlling stake of an insurance company named Jiahe, though in this case what’s most interesting is the long amount of time it took to win the approval.
Tag Archives: China company stock news
News Digest: November 21 报摘： 2012年11月21日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) to Buy Fetion from Ultrapower (Shenzhen: 300002) – Source (English article)
- CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Accepts New Canadian Terms to Win Nexen Deal Nod: Report (English article)
- Agricultural Bank of China (HKEx: 1288) Approved For Jiahe Insurance Investment (HKEx announcement)
- Phoenix New Media (NYSE: FENG) Reports Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
- Toys“R”Us Launches Dedicated Web Store in China (Businesswire)
M&A: HSBC Dumps Ping An, Sinopec in Nigeria 汇丰拟售平保股份 中石化收购尼日利亚石油资产
Two new mega-deals on the M&A front are highlighting the fact that foreign companies are shedding assets as they look to improve their performance during the global downturn, providing both risks and opportunities for major Chinese firms. On the risk side of the equation, Ping An Insurance (HKEx: 2318; Shanghai: 601318) is learning the hard way that having a big foreign investor has both its advantages and disadvantages, as global banking giant HSBC (HKEx: 5; London: HSBA) prepares to dump its $9.5 billion stake in the company. On the positive side, oil refiner Sinopec (HKEx: 386; Shanghai: 600028) could be getting a good deal with its new $2.5 billion purchase of Nigerian oil assets from Total (Paris: TOTF) as the French oil giant looks to raise cash to boost its exploration operations.
Advertising Winter Enters Deep Freeze 中国广告行业进入严冬
Leading Chinese media company CCTV has been trumpeting the results of its annual advertising auction for 2013 held over the weekend, which saw spending increase by 11.4 percent despite the recent slowdown that has hit the sector. But from my perspective, these results look very gloomy indeed for reasons I’ll explain shortly, meaning advertising-dependent Internet leaders like search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and video sharing site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOUKU) won’t have much to cheer about in 2013.
News Digest: November 20 报摘： 2012年11月20日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- HSBC (HKEx: 5) In Talks To Sell $9.3 Bln China Ping An (HKEx: 2318) Stake (English article)
- Jingdong Mall Launches Online Music Service (English article)
- MIIT to Release Plan for Trial Private Investment in Telecom Sector (English article)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Reports Q3 Unaudited Results (PRNewswire)
- Total (Paris: TOTF) Sells $2.5 Bln Nigeria Oil Field Stake to Sinopec (HKEx: 386) (English article)
CCB Joins Capital Raising Queue — Again 建行获准发行400亿元人民币次级债
The near non-stop capital raising by major Chinese banks is showing no sign of slowing, with China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939; Shanghai: 601939) announcing yet another new plan to sell up to 40 billion yuan, or $6.5 billion, in subordinated debt to shore up its balance sheet. Similar to most recent cases, these bonds will be sold into the inter-bank bond market for domestic buyers, meaning that big state-backed institutions are likely to pay most of the bill for this latest recapitalization of a major Chinese bank, most of which are standing on the cusp of a major bad-loan crisis.
Sina Weibo Sniffs E-Commerce With Alibaba 阿里巴巴或牵手新浪微博
New reports over the weekend have Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) popular but profit-challenged Weibo microblogging service sniffing out a strategic tie-up with e-commerce leader Alibaba, in what looks like a very smart tie-up to me if it’s true. Meantime in related news, NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is shuttering one of its main social networking services (SNS) sites, again reflecting how difficult it is to make money in the popular but cash-poor world of SNS. Let’s take a look first at the big news regarding a potential Sina-Alibaba tie-up, which would mark a major step in the drive by Sina Weibo towards becoming profitable.
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Solar: New Suntech Cuts And Shrinking Stocks 太阳能：尚德缩减产能及股票缩水
There’s a flurry of news coming from the embattled solar sector, led by a sharp cutback by Suntech (NYSE: STP) at its main US plant that looks suspiciously like it is being ordered by Beijing part of a government rescue plan for the struggling company. Meantime, JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) and LDK (NYSE: LDK) are struggling just to stay listed as their market values quickly evaporate. And in a rare but fleeting piece of good news, Yingli (NYSE: YGE), Trina (NYSE: TSL) and others are getting a temporary boost as they reclaim money they previously set aside but will no longer need to use as provisions in the US anti-dumping investigation against them.
Chinese Smartphones on the Rise 中国智能手机崛起
Chinese smartphone makers have surged in their home market over the last year, coming from out of the blue to challenge big global names like Apple and Samsung. But their rise could be short-lived if they fail to innovate, paralleling a similar rapid rise and fall a decade ago for names like TCL (HKEx: 2618) and Ningbo Bird that are now just footnotes in the history of China’s large but highly competitive mobile market. The rapid rise of Chinese brands over the last year has been nothing short of remarkable, as China gets set to overtake the United States as the world’s largest smartphone market. At the end of last year, the market was still dominated by foreign names, with Samsung (Seoul: 005930), Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) occupying three of the top four slots to control more than half of the market collectively.
News Digest: November 17-19 报摘： 2012年11月17-19日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 17-19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939) Approved to Issue Up To 40 Bln Yuan in Notes (HKEx announcement)
- NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) Social Networking Site Stops Service (Chinese article)
- Suntech (NYSE: STP) Reduces Production at Arizona Factory (PRNewswire)
- Suning.com (Shenzhen: 002024) Launches E-Book Channel (English article)
- Alibaba Makes Strategic Investment in Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo – Source (Chinese article)
China Mobile Loses Cable War 中国移动无缘有线商机
The news wires are buzzing today with word that wireless titan China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) appears to have lost a major battle to quickly become a major player in the fixed-line broadband space by purchasing a stake in a new national cable TV operator now being formed. If the reports are true, this development certainly wouldn’t surprise me since regulators in Beijing are probably quickly tiring of listing to the constant complaints coming from China Mobile, which believes it was treated unfairly in the country’s awarding of 3G wireless licenses 3 years ago.
