Bottom line: Sohu’s plan to list its Sogou search unit has a 50-50 chance of happening this year, while AirMedia’s 2-year-old privatization plan is likely to close within that period.
Sohu talks IPO for Sogou — again
A couple of IPOs are in the headlines as we head into the new week, led by an often-discussed offering by perennial third-place search engine Sogou, which is co-owned by Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) and second-rate portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). At the same time, another second-rate company, AirMedia (Nasdaq: AMCN), has slashed the proposed buyout price for its attempt to go private, reflecting the company’s own troubles.
Both of these stories have a bit of the “who cares?” element for long-term investors, since neither company is one that has particularly strong long-term prospects. But they do both reflect the larger realm of smaller Chinese Internet and media companies that are struggling for attention, as investors get mesmerized by giants like Tencent, Alibaba(NYSE: BABA) and JD.com(Nasdaq: JD). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The looming completion of buyouts for Qihoo 360 and Mindray Medical points to growing momentum for successful privatizations of other Chinese firms waiting to de-list from New York.
Qihoo, Mindray head back to China
Two of the largest in a wave of privatizations by US-listed Chinese firms have just taken big steps forward, with major new announcements from software security specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and medical device maker Mindray (NYSE: MR). One case has Qihoo announcing a formal date for a meeting where shareholders will vote on its plan to privatize the company. The other has Mindray announcing it has formally completed its own buyout plan, and has filed to have its shares de-listed from New York.
It’s quite significant that both of these plans are moving forward now, since China’s own stock markets where both Qihoo and Mindray hope to eventually re-list have been in a state of turmoil these days. That turmoil has seen the main Shanghai index tumble around 20 percent this year, and it’s quite possible that more turbulence lies ahead. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Chinese Internet blue chips like Baidu and Ctrip should continue to flourish on Wall Street due to their leading status, while shares of smaller names will sputter and even plunge if a recent wave of buyout offers starts to collapse.
Baidu in $1.25 bln bond offer
The last 2 days have been most notable for what hasn’t happened over that time, namely the announcement of any new buyout offers for US-listed Chinese companies. Barring any new announcements on this final day of the trading week, the second quarter of 2015 is likely to end with a record 20 such privatization bids for Chinese firms looking to de-list from New York in search of better valuations back in China.
At the same time, 2 of China’s premier US-listed Internet companies are on the cusp of issuing a combined total of nearly $2.5 billion in new bonds, reflecting a new reality for Chinese companies on Wall Street. That reality is allowing China’s leading Internet names like search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and top online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) to still do quite well in New York, even as the far bigger number of lesser-known companies see their shares sputter. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The next 2 weeks could see another 3-5 US-listed Chinese companies announce buy-out bids, but the number will slow after that and many deals could collapse if China’s stock market rally falters.
3 more names join buy-out queue
Another 3 companies have joined the fast-growing privatization queue over China’s long holiday weekend, leading me to create the temporary tag of “buyouts” for headlines describing this brief but explosive story. For anyone who hasn’t followed that story closely, the current quarter has now seen 19 privatizations unveiled by US-listed Chinese firms, including the 3 latest announcements from video surveillance specialist Vimicro (Nasdaq: VMIC), advertising specialist AirMedia (Nasdaq: AMCN) and IT services provider China Information Technology (Nasdaq: CNIT).
In related news, leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) has announced it is joining a group making a previously announced privatization bid for E-House (NYSE: EJ), one of China’s leading real estate services companies. That particular move looks related to an existing alliance between the 2 companies, and thus probably just marks a continuation of that relationship that I’ll describe below.
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 20-23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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SMG’s Oriental Pearl (Shanghai: 600637) Enters Internet TV After Reorganization (Chinese article)
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Joins Consortium in E-House (NYSE: EJ) Privatization Plan (PRNewswire)
Hershey (NYSE: HSY) Cuts Annual Profit Forecast After China Growth Slows (English article)
JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Responds to Short Seller Attack, Calls Report Misleading (Chinese article)
AirMedia (Nasdaq: AMCN) Announces Receipt of “Going Private” Proposal (PRNewswire)
