Another food safety scandal made headlines in China last week, this time when the dairy unit of Shanghai’s Bright Food was fined after its products were found swirling at the center of a recent string of controversies. But unlike previous scandals, this one involved a company with major global aspirations, as reflected by Bright’s recent string of overseas acquisitions. The fact that China’s first global food conglomerate may be a food safety laggard is hardly a message that Beijing should want to send the world, and will only make skeptical Westerners wary of Chinese food products. To prevent that from happening, which would hurt not only Bright but also future Chinese global aspirants, Beijing should seriously consider taking stronger actions against this globally minded company.
Tag Archives: China company stock news
News Digest: November 3 报摘： 2012年11月3日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 3-5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Providence Equity Partners’ Stake in iQiyi (PRNewswire)
- Nestle (Switzerland: NESN): Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Baby Food Deal Cleared By China (English article)
- AutoTrader Buys 22 Pct of Chinese Car Site Bitauto (NYSE: BITA) For $58.5 Mln (English article)
- LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Sues Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) for IPR Infringement (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) Sees Over 40 Percent Rise In 2013 Smartphone Shipments (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Fund Raising: Maps, Milk and Vancl 丁丁网与华夏畜牧获得新融资 凡客或很快赴美上市
A flurry of fund-raising news is making the headlines today, showing that private equity and venture capitalists are still hard at work investing in China, even as many of their traditional favorites in the overheated Internet space are getting the cold shoulder. At the same time, the inevitable has finally happened with the first concrete report that cash-challenged clothing retailer Vancl has re-started its long-delayed IPO process, with an aim of making a public listing in New York potentially by the end of this year.
HiSoft-VanceInfo: A Sleeping Giant 文思携手海辉：IT外包服务的明日之星
I’ll finish this Friday by taking a look ahead to next week, which should see the creation of a Chinese IT outsourcing leader when shareholders are likely to approve the combination of HiSoft (Nasdaq: HSFT) and VanceInfo (NYSE: VIT), the nation’s top 2 listed firms. I hesitate to use the word “giant” to describe this newly merged leader, as it will still be relatively small with a modest $670 million in annual revenue and a market capitalization of just under $700 million. By comparison, Indian IT outsourcing giant Infosys (Mumbai: INFY) expects to earn over $7 billion in revenue for its current fiscal year, meaning the new HiSoft-VanceInfo will be less than a tenth as big.
News Digest: November 2 报摘： 2012年11月2日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Vancl Restarts IPO Process, Aims For Profitability By Year End (Chinese article)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Looks for 15-20 Pct Search Market Share (English article)
- China Telecom’s (HKEx: 728) Mobile Reading Base Aims for Future IPO (English article)
- Huaxia Dairy Creates New CEO Position, Raises Additional $50 Million (Businesswire)
- China Launches Trade Probes on EU Solar Products (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
ZTE’s Smartphones Go Upscale 中兴发布新手机品牌Nubia 发力高端市场
Embattled telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shanghai: 000063) is taking a relatively low-key approach to its newest move into the smartphone space, which comes with its launch of a new brand called Nubia specifically aimed at the high-end market. The tactic is a bit unusual for the company, which earlier this week put out a full-fledged press release announcing it has formally passed Taiwan’s fading HTC (Taipei: 2498) to become the world’s fourth largest smartphone maker. (company announcement)
Chery, With New JV, Heads to Market 捷豹路虎合资项目获批 奇瑞欲重启IPO
More than a month after struggling carmaker Chery first told the world that its joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover had received a government green light (previous post), China’s state planner has come out and announced its formal approval of the deal. But what caught my attention from the latest news reports were some of the details about the new venture’s plans, along with the more intriguing revelation that Chery is racing ahead with plans for an IPO to fund the project.
eBay Returns to China With Xiu eBay联手走秀重返中国
After failing badly in its first attempt in China, US e-commerce giant eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is preparing for a second try at the market by teaming up with a local player online apparel seller named Xiu.com. Media reports are citing an unnamed knowledgeable source about this latest tie-up, but from my perspective it seems quite credible as eBay has been reportedly looking for a new China partner for much of the last year. (Chinese article)
News Digest: November 1 报摘： 2012年11月1日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) to Re-enter China B2C Market With Xiu.com – Source (Chinese article)
- New Extension Likely For CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Nexen (Toronto: NXY) Review – Sources (English article)
- HiSoft (Nasdaq: HSFT) Reaffirms Q3 and Full Year 2012 Guidance (PRNewswire)
- Jingdong Mall, LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Partner on Video Shopping (English article)
- Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Video CEO Denies Timetable For IPO (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Qunar Joins Year-End IPO Queue 去哪儿网有望年底赴美上市
We’re seeing growing signs that a mini-parade of Chinese IPOs could march through New York in the last 2 months of 2012, with word that online travel site Qunar hopes to list in the US by the end of the year. (Chinese article) If the reports are true, Qunar would join a small but growing list of Chinese companies that could make US listings by year end, with video sharing sites operated by Xunlei and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) also sending similar signals. (previous post) If these listings go well, we could even see one of the shakier companies that has been waiting patiently to make a listing quickly move forward with an IPO, with online clothing retailer Vancl the most likely candidate in this category.
Desperate Dangdang Joins TMall 当当网携手天猫 绝望中求生存
A day after announcing the arrival of a new chief financial officer (previous post), we’re getting word that fast-fading e-commerce superstar Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) is preparing to join hands with a major competitor by opening a new storefront on Alibaba’s TMall. The CFO change and now this latest tie-up with a rival all reflect the growing reality that Dangdang is rapidly fading from China’s fiercely competitive e-commerce crowd, and could even become one of its first major victims. One could even say this latest series of moves reflects a certain desperation, as Dangdang tries to reverse a worrisome trend that has seen its losses balloon over the last year.
