Tag Archives: Alibaba Pictures

E-COMMERCE: Ant Trumped in US, Alibaba Reorganizes Video

Bottom line: Ant Financial will counter bid for MoneyGram, following a surprise rival bid for the company, while Alibaba Pictures’ absorption of the former Youku Tudou looks like a logical consolidation of Alibaba’s filmed entertainment assets.

Ant’s MoneyGram offer attracts rival bidder

Two of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma’s biggest endeavors outside his core e-commerce business are in the headlines, led by a counter bid for a US financial services company his Ant Financial is trying to acquire. That particular deal has a US company called Euronet Worldwide announcing a bid for MoneyGram that’s 15 percent higher than Ant’s own $880 million bid made back in January. The other news is slightly more mundane but still significant, and has Ma’s Alibaba moving its Youku Tudou online video service into its separately listed Alibaba Pictures (HKEx: 1060) filmed entertainment unit. Read Full Post…

China News Digest: May 11, 2016

The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Responds to Stricter Rules Concerning Healthcare Advertising (English article)
  • Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) Leads China Going-Private Target Rebound in US Trading (English article)
  • Alibaba Pictures (HKEx: 1060) Invests 1 Bln Yuan in Cinema Firm Convertible Bonds (Chinese article)
  • Unicom (HKEx: 762) Makes Major Personnel Adjustments at Group, Provincial Levels (Chinese article)
  • China Q1 Smartphone Sales Fall 5 Pct, Huawei in First, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Fifth (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

MEDIA: Alibaba Plays with Paramount, Investment Coming?

Bottom line: Alibaba’s new co-production deal with Paramount suggests the pair could soon form an equity alliance, following Paramount’s February announcement that it may sell a stake of itself to a strategic partner.

Alibaba Pictures invests in 2 Paramount films

The hyperactive Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is in yet another major headline today, forming a tie-up to co-produce 2 of the most successful movie franchises from Hollywood giant Paramount. But what’s most intriguing about this latest deal is the timing, since it comes just over a month after Paramount announced it may be preparing to sell a stake of itself to a Chinese buyer.

Paramount announced that intent in late February, as part of a broader move by Hollywood to cash in on China’s booming box office that is the world’s second largest behind only the US. (previous post) Paramount and the other Hollywood studios also like the fact that Chinese buyers are often willing to pay big premiums for big-name brands, which should theoretically help to boost the stock prices of those foreign companies. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Alibaba-Youku Challenge Traditional Media to Speed up Reform

Bottom line: Beijing needs to accelerate reform of traditional media in the face of rising challenges from players like Alibaba and Baidu, or risk seeing many of these state-run companies fall into irrelevance.

Alibaba challenges traditional media to speed up reform

A wave of mega-mergers sweeping through China’s Internet over the last 2 years saw its biggest deal to date announced late last week, when e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) offered $4.6 billion for the more than 80 percent of leading online video site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) it doesn’t already own. The move marked the latest challenge to China’s traditional media industry, which has been monopolized for years by state-run broadcasters and printed publications.

If this latest mega-deal gets completed, a new Youku Tudou with access to Alibaba’s cash and other vast resources will almost certainly accelerate its challenge to traditional media by aggressively rolling out compelling new on-demand products and premium content. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: After Youku Tudou Bid, Weibo Next on Alibaba’s Menu?

Bottom line: Alibaba could make a bid for Weibo in the next 6 months, in a deal that would share many similarities with its newly launched blockbuster offer for Youku Tudou.

Weibo next on Alibaba’s M&A menu?

China’s Internet is buzzing over the industry’s biggest acquisition to date with Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) offer for Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU), but that deal could presage an even higher-profile one that sees the fading Twitter-like Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) follow a similar fate. Or even more intriguing, Alibaba could make a potential play for Weibo’s parent and founder Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), in a move that would spell the end for China’s leading web portal and one of its oldest Internet firms.

There would be many similarities between such a deal and the Alibaba offer for leading online video site Youku Tudou deal announced late last week. Investors appear to also believe such a deal could possible, based on stock reactions to the blockbuster deal that would see Alibaba pay $4.6 billion for the more than 80 percent of Youku Tudou it doesn’t already own. Weibo shares leaped 13.4 percent after the deal was announced, second only to Youku Tudou’s own 22 percent jump. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Domestic Hits Power China Summer Box Office Surge

Bottom line: Growing sophistication by Chinese film-makers will continue to power strong growth at China’s box office, and will foster a new group of homegrown players that could challenge Hollywood over the next 10-20 years.

China box office surges in July

Two blockbuster films are fueling a sudden wave of excitement over domestic Chinese films, providing new momentum for a growing stable of local film-makers and foreign-backed joint ventures. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the 2 films leading the summer charge are both animated or have animated elements, and both also use a potent combination of Chinese elements and western story-telling skills to appeal to huge audiences of young people that go to see movies during the summer holidays.

The huge success for the animated films “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” and “Monster Hunt” has fueled a big wave of national pride in Chinese film-making. It even has some observers calling for an end to the recent ban on showing foreign films during the important summer vacation period, since these new Chinese movies prove that domestic productions can compete with big foreign rivals like the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Neutrality Needed In Corporate Corruption Clean-up

Bottom line: Chinese companies should follow the lead of Huawei, Baidu and Tencent in fighting internal corruption, but Beijing should also play a role by ensuring such probes don’t become a weapon for companies to attack each other.

Tencent corruption probe nets former video exec

The growing clampdown on corruption at private Chinese companies was in the headlines last week, when Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) disclosed that it was investigating half a dozen employees suspected of accepting bribes. But unlike other similar probes that have been growing in number over the last year, this particular one involved former Tencent employees, including one now working as a top executive for Internet rival Alibaba (NSYE: BABA).

Such corruption and other economic crimes have no place in a healthy corporate landscape, and leading Chinese high-tech names like Huawei, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and now Tencent should be commended for their efforts to stamp out the problem. But Tencent’s targeting of a high-level employee who went to work for a rival is also slightly troublesome, as it shows that companies could use such probes as a weapon to punish workers who defect to their competitors. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Tencent Corruption Probe Nets Alibaba Exec

Bottom line: The detention on suspicion of corruption of a former Tencent executive now working at Alibaba shows that Chinese Internet companies could use such internal probes to disrupt business at their rivals.

Former Tencent worker detained for corruption

Chinese tech companies are getting increasingly aggressive in their campaign to root out internal corruption, with word that Tencent (HKEx: 700) is probing current and former employees from its video unit for accepting bribes. But what’s most interesting about this latest anti-corruption drive is that one of the executives detained by police now works at the entertainment unit of Tencent rival Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). That element of the case reflects the fact that executives at China’s leading Internet companies often move between each other, in a job-hopping phenomenon that is relatively common in China.

But the move also reveals a potentially potent weapon that companies like Tencent could use in the future to try and disrupt business at their rivals. We saw a similar case just last year, when online game giant NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) made allegations against one of its former employees who left to start social networking app Momo (Nasdaq: MOMO), causing major headaches for Momo on the eve of its New York IPO. Read Full Post…

FUND RAISING: Kingsoft and Alibaba Pictures In HK, Mindray to Privatize

Bottom line: The sale of new shares at a discount by Alibaba Pictures and Kingsoft reflects growing competition for funds in Hong Kong, while Mindray is likely to seek a China re-listing following its privatization from New York.

Kingsoft in fund-raising plan

A flurry of fund-raising activity on China’s periphery is in the headlines as we end the week, led by 2 separate plans by Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) film unit and software maker Kingsoft (HKEx: 3888) to raise a combined $2 billion. At the same time, medical device maker Mindray (NYSE: MR) has become the latest in a recent string of companies to receive buy-out offers, following years of lackluster performance for its New York-listed shares.

The underlying theme to these 3 stories is a huge stock market rally in China itself, which has seen the benchmark Shanghai index more than double over the last year. That rally is making companies like Mindray envious, prompting many to de-list from New York and target re-listings at home. At the same time, the China effect is also spilling over into adjacent Hong Kong, making it much easier for Chinese companies listed there to also raise new cash. Read Full Post…

News Digest: June 5, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Alibaba Pictures (HKEx: 1060) To Raise $1.6 Bln in Share Sale For Media Acquisitions (English article)
  • Mindray (NYSE: MR) Receives “Going Private” Proposal at $30.00 Per ADS (PRNewswire)
  • WH Group (HKEx: 288) Announces Sale of Campofrio Stake For $354 Mln (GlobeNewswire)
  • Supermarket and Consumer Electronics Chain Bubugao to Raise 3.4 Bln Yuan (English article)
  • Wanda Group E-Commerce CEO Resigns, Cites Personal Reasons (Chinese article)

FUND RAISING: Alibaba, Legend Spotlight Rising Hong Kong

Bottom line: Legend Group’s IPO should get a solid reception, and Alibaba’s separately listed drug and film units should also perform well over the next few years as the Hong Kong stock exchange gains popularity for China tech firms.

Legend makes first public filing for HK IPO

A pair of stories today are casting a spotlight on Hong Kong and its future potential as a hotbed for Chinese tech listings. One of those involves e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), which wanted to make its record-breaking IPO in Hong Kong last year but ultimately chose New York due to ownership issues. The second involves Legend Holdings, parent of PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992), and one of China’s oldest and most respected private tech companies.

The first news bit has Alibaba injecting the pharmacy business from its popular Tmall online shopping mall into its Hong Kong-listed Alibaba Health (HKEx: 241) unit. The second has Legend Holdings making its first public filing for a long-planned listing in Hong Kong that should happen later this year, including some of the first official financials we’ve seen for the IPO. Read Full Post…