Tag Archives: AMC

MEDIA: Wanda’s Worried Wang Sends Hollywood Message to Trump

Bottom line: Wanda’s cautionary words to Donald Trump are unlikely to have much impact on the incoming US president, who is likely to take a more skeptical view of Chinese M&A in Hollywood.

Wanda appeals to Trump via MPAA

Wanda Group founder and chief Wang Jianlin is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to overseas buying as he tries to build up a global entertainment empire. But one of China’s richest men is clearly rattled by the ambivalent or even hostile attitude towards his country by US president-elect Donald Trump.

Worried about the changing winds in Washington, Wang has turned to Hollywood’s mouthpiece, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), to tell Trump that Hollywood could face huge consequences if he tries to shut down China’s recent buying binge. Wang has been Hollywood’s most enthusiastic shopper these days, purchasing cinema operator AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) and studio Legendary Entertainment over the last few years. He also announced a recent deal to buy Dick Clark Productions, and recently signed a major co-production deal with Sony Pictures. Read Full Post…

LEISURE: Wanda Ups Carmike Bid, Gets Boost from China Life

Bottom line: Wanda may need to raise its offer price again to buy Carmike, while a plan to privatize its property unit stands a good chance of winning shareholder approval.

Wanda ups Carmike bid

Conglomerate Wanda Group is in a couple of a major headlines, one involving its traditional real estate business and the other for the newer entertainment unit it’s building up as part of a diversification drive. The real estate headline centers on Hong Kong-listed property developer Dalian Wanda (HKEx: 3699), which has just received an endorsement from a major shareholder in its bid to go private. The second item centers on Wanda’s fast-growing cinema business, and has the company boosting its offer for US theater operator Carmike (Nasdaq: CKEC) after minority stakeholders complained a previous bid was too low. Read Full Post…

China News Digest: July 26, 2016

The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Says Group Withdraws Offer to Acquire iQiyi (PRNewswire)
  • Wanda’s AMC (NYSE: AMC) Raises Bid for Carmike (Nasdaq: CKEC) to $1.2 Bln (Chinese article)
  • Chinese Dealmaker Sonny Wu Said to Lead Takeover of AC Milan (English article)
  • Huawei H1 Revenue Rises 40 Pct, Profit Margin Falls to 12 Pct (Chinese article)
  • Geely (HKEx: 175) Sells 2 EV Joint Ventures to Parent for 1.35 Bln Yuan (HKEx announcement)
  • Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

IPOs: Fosun Looks for China Magic in Ironshore NY Listing

Bottom line: Fosun’s New York IPO plan for US insurer Ironshore could draw strong interest due to Fosun’s China and global connections, and may ultimately raise up to $1 billion later this year.

Fosun eyes NY listing for Ironshore

China’s recent global buying spree has created some interesting investment opportunities, as Chinese acquirers increasingly look to western investors to help pay for their purchases. One such new opportunity is in the headlines this week, with word that Chinese private equity giant Fosun (HKEx: 656) is aiming to launch a New York IPO for its recently acquired US insurer Ironshore. In this growing trend, the Chinese investors are hoping to generate some buzz for this kind of IPO by taking regionally-focused assets and repositioning them as global plays, often with a big China focus. Read Full Post…

ENTERTAINMENT: Wanda’s Wang Reconsiders Carmike Bid

Bottom line: AMC is likely to raise its offer for Carmike Cinemas to the $33-$35 range to placate investors who say the original bid price is too low.

AMC to delay Carmike bid vote

Just days after meeting resistance in a bid to privatize his Hong Kong-listed real estate company, billionaire Wang Jianlin is running into similar difficulties in his plans for a similar buyout of US-listed movie theater operator Carmike Cinemas (Nasdaq: CKEC). Wang first bid for Carmike earlier this year, hoping to combine it with his previously purchased AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), the second largest US movie chain operator. But shareholders quickly said the offer price was too low, and now it appears that Wanda and Wang are reconsidering the bid. Read Full Post…

China News Digest: March 5-7, 2016

The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 5-7. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Wanda’s AMC (NYSE: AMC) Theater Chain to Buy Carmike for $1.1 Bln (English article)
  • Tencent (HKEx: 700) to Invest $1 Bln in Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Video Unit – Source (Chinese article)
  • Adidas (Frankfurt: ADS) to Boost China Outlets by a Third With 3,000 Stores (English article)
  • Hutchison China MediTech Announces Launch of Potential US IPO of ADSs (Businesswire)
  • Bank of China (HKEx: 3988) to Spin Off, Separately List BOC Aviation Unit (HKEx announcement)
  • Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

IPOs: ChemChina Weighs IPO For Italy’s Pirelli

Bottom line: ChemChina might be advised to maintain Pirelli as an independent unit and limit the size of an IPO if succeeds in buying the Italian tire maker and decides to re-list the business.

WH Group, AMC IPOs offer lessons for ChemChina

The headlines are buzzing today with word that state-run behemoth ChemChina may try to re-list Pirelli (Milan: PC) after it purchases the Italian tire maker, which got me to thinking about how the China factor might affect such an IPO. In theory at least, investors might get quite excited about a company they once disdained after its purchase  by a Chinese buyer, due to hopes for lower costs and greater profits. But a look at 2 recent cases of major US firms that were acquired by Chinese buyers, then re-listed, shows the reality can vary widely and that a Chinese owner isn’t necessarily a panacea for an ailing overseas company. Read Full Post…

Wanda Steps Up Global Buying Binge

Wanda samples luxury yachts

Commercial real estate giant Wanda Group is continuing its recent global push, with announcements of a new major purchase of a British yacht maker and plans to build new high-end hotels in New York and London. While some of the plans look interesting, I do think that perhaps this company has just a bit too much money and even more ambition, and that it may be moving too quickly into unfamiliar areas both in terms of products and geography. It’s obviously way too early to predict success or failure for any of these new ventures, but I would caution the company to perhaps slow its rapid overseas expansion or risk running into some major problems in the future. Read Full Post…

Wanda Goes To Hollywood With Dolby

Wanda in deal with Dolby

Following its landmark purchase of a major US theater chain last year, real estate giant Wanda has embarked on a spending spree to upgrade its new facilities with a major new deal to buy state-of-the-art sound systems from Dolby (NYSE: DLB). The move is the latest in a steady stream of big announcements over the last year that has suddenly thrust one of China’s top real estate companies onto the global stage, as it looks to become one of the world’s biggest theater chain operators. Read Full Post…

CNOOC’s Nexen Bid: Where’s the Noise? 中海油收购尼克森:争议在哪?

I have to admit that I’ve been quite surprised by the lack of noise coming from North American  politicians in the month since Chinese oil major CNOOC (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO) announced its landmark plan to buy Canadian oil giant Nexen (Toronto: NXY) in a deal valued at $15.1 billion. In fact, you could say the silence over that period has been almost deafening, with the lack of noise only ending late last week when Nexen made the low-key announcement that it has scheduled a meeting on September 20 for its shareholders to vote on the deal. (English article)

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Chinese US Home Loan Set for Trouble 国开行拟向美国地产商贷款料遇政治障碍

There’s an interesting report out there today about another Sino-US deal that’s bound to attract controversy for political reasons, this one involving an American real estate developer looking for Chinese money to build homes in the San Francisco area. I’m probably sounding a bit too pessimistic by repeatedly predicting these kinds of deals are destined to fail due to pressure from US politicians, which is what has happened several times over the last 2 years for deals in the sensitive telecoms infrastructure space.

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