Bottom line: Tsinghua Unigroup’s latest investment in an online lottery ticket seller hints that it may add Internet services to its growing list of high-tech products and services through separate tie-ups with Intel and HP.
Unigroup invests in 500.com
A previously little-known company connected with China’s leading science university has made headlines over the last year through major new tie-ups with global tech titans Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HP), which makes its latest investment just slightly puzzling. That investment is seeing Tsinghua Unigroup pour a relatively modest but still significant $124 million into 500.com (NYSE: WBAI), a New York-listed Chinese firm that sells lottery tickets over the Internet.
I’m being just slightly whimsical in tying Unigroup’s latest purchase to its much larger recent tie-ups with Intel and HP, which I’ll recap shortly. But that said, Unigroup has rapidly emerged as a player to watch in a China’s underperforming domestic microchip and IT services sectors, and most of its high-profile investments since it first moved into the spotlight have been centered on efforts to assemble a homegrown Chinese giant in those spaces. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Retreats on Chinese Private Hospital Advertising Boycott (English article)
Express Mobile Files Patent Infringement Claims Against Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) (PRNewswire)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Announces Sale of Electronic Component Unit For 2.3 Bln Yuan (HKEx announcement)
Bottom line: Rallies for Renren and 500.com stock on positive news are likely to be short lived due to both companies’ limited prospects, while 55Tuan’s IPO is likely to see more delays and its shares are unlikely to debut next week
500.com prepares to go back online
As we head into the long weekend for the Easter and Tomb Sweeping holidays, a string of developments are providing a bit of cheer to shareholders of embattled social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) and online lottery ticket seller 500.com (NYSE: WBAI). Renren’s good news comes in a newly announced Dutch auction for its stock, a variation of traditional share buybacks. At 500.com, the good news comes in the form of chatter that Beijing will soon roll out new policies that pave the way for resumption of the online lottery ticket sales that are the company’s main business.
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 28-March 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China issues 4G FDD Licences To China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Unicom (HKEx: 762) (English article)
China draft Counterterror Law Strikes Fear In Foreign Tech Firms (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lunar New Year Eve SMS Volume Down 25 Pct, Data Traffic Up 70 Pct – MIIT (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Q4 And Fiscal Year 2014 Results (PRNewswire)
Ant Financial To Invest In Tebon Fund Management – Source (English article)
China’s Huawei Says Its Ready For Transparency (English article)
500.com Ltd (NYSE: WBAI) Reports Q4and Full Year 2014 Financial Results (English article)
Waldorf Astoria Sale Marks Tip Of Chinese Money Into US Hotels (English article)
In the absence of big company news so far this week, I’ve decided tolook at the scorecard for the flood of technology IPOs over the last 12 months and what it might say about what’s ahead into next year. The record so far looks quite good in general, especially for companies that made a flurry of New York offerings at the end of last year and whose shares have mostly doubled or more since then.
But one notable exception to the trend is mobile games, as 2 of the 3 major players to make recent listings are now squarely in negative territory. That doesn’t bode well for a 3 upcoming similar listings, 1 in New York and 2 in Hong Kong, which appear to be stalling due to the cool investor sentiment. Read Full Post…
The pace of new Internet IPOs coming out of China continues to build up steam, with word that yet another e-commerce company has hired investment banks for a mega offering to raise up to $600 million. The move by Jumei.com, an online seller of cosmetics, comes just a week after JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce firm, made its first public filing for a New York IPO to raise up to $1.5 billion. A new separate report is now saying that JD.com founder and chief executive Liu Qiangdong could enter the realm of China’s richest men following the offering, with his stake in the company expected to give him a net worth of up to $7 billion. Read Full Post…
I previously predicted that e-commerce giant Jingdong would try to make a IPO in the first half of this year, and now we’re hearing that the company has come out galloping in the Year of the Horse by filing a plan for a major New York listing. Word of the plan comes after a year-end boom for Chinese Internet IPOs in New York, most of which have soared since theirdebuts. Jingdong undoubtedly wants to try to seize some of that momentum, but equally important is keen to make its offering before the highly anticipated IPO of its much larger rival Alibaba expected later this year. Alibaba itself was also in the headlines over the Lunar New Year holiday, with the latest financials on the company adding further froth to its soaring valuation. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lenovo (HKEx: (992) To Buy Google’s Motorola In China’s Largest Tech Deal (English article)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) To Buy Control Of Standard Bank Unit For $765 Mln (English article)
500.com (NYSE: WBAI), China Mobile (HKEx: 941) In Strategic Partnership (PRNewswire)
MIIT Gives 2nd Round Of VNO Licenses, Winners Include Suning, Gome (Chinese article)
Buffett-Backed Chinese Automaker BYD (HKEx: 1211) Settles US Wage Dispute (English article)
