Bottom line: Autohome and E-House are both likely to complete their privatizations from New York, continuing the migration of US-listed Chinese firms returning home to seek higher valuations on China’s stock markets.
Autohome drives away from New York
The drive back home for New York-listed Chinese companies continues as we head into the new week, with online car site Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) becoming the latest to announce a privatization plan. In a slightly unusual twist to that story, Autohome shares actually rose above the offer price before the buyout deal was announced, suggesting investors were hoping for a bigger premium than the one offered. But they quickly fell back to the offer price in after-hours trading.
At the same time, online real estate company E-House (NYSE: EJ) announced it has signed a definitive deal to privatize, nearly a year after it first announced its plan to de-list from New York. E-House’s plan has gone down a windy road since it was first announced last June at the height of a rally that saw China’s stock markets more than double in a year. Since then Chinese markets have tanked twice, and are now about 40 percent lower than where they were when E-House first announced its offer. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Momo may be reconsidering its de-listing plan as it approaches profitability and becomes comfortable in New York, while Shanda’s final de-listing testifies to the resourcefulness and tenacity of founder Chen Tianqiao.
Shanda NY listing nears end game
Two companies aiming to de-list from New York are in the headlines as the weekend approaches, led by word that Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is finally packing its bags and heading home after a long and difficult privatization process lasting nearly 2 years. At the other end of the spectrum is social networking app maker Momo (Nasdaq: MOMO), which was aiming to capture the record for shortest life as a US-listed company when it announced a privatization bid in June just 7 months after its Nasdaq IPO.
I’ve written quite a few times about Shanda Games’ imminent de-listing, only to see the buyout derail for different reasons. But this time it really does look final after shareholders approved a buyout deal that has now formally closed. (company announcement) Meantime, Momo has just announced quarterly results that show it is almost profitable. But what’s perhaps equally interesting is the lack of any mention of its own previously announced buyout offer in the report, which could perhaps imply a change of direction. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Giant Interactive is likely to achieve a backdoor listing in China over the next 12 months, while Qihoo could receive a new, lowered privatization offer by the end of this year.
Giant eyes China backdoor listing
Early signs of stabilizing on China’s stock markets are breathing new life into the nascent migration by Chinese tech firms that are abandoning overseas listings to re-list back at home. The latest signals of new movement are coming from formerly New York-listed Giant Interactive, which is eyeing a backdoor listing in Shenzhen, and from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which is indicating its faltering plan to de-list from New York is still alive.
Both of these deals have a bit of history, and are part of a broader wave that saw 3 dozen US-listed Chinese firms announce plans to privatize in the first half of this year. Most of those plans came when China’s domestic stock markets were rallying sharply. Backers of the bids were betting that companies whose shares had languished in New York could get much higher valuations from investors in their home China market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A booming China stock market and IPO reforms could fuel a new wave of re-listings by Chinese tech and media firms that were formerly traded in New York, led by an upcoming backdoor listing by Focus Media.
Xueda gets buyout offer
A pair of stories in the headlines today are highlighting a nascent movement that could see a growing number of US-listed Chinese firms take down their shingle in New York to return to stock markets closer to home. No companies have made such a move yet, but advertising specialist Focus Media could soon become the first with word that it’s moving closer to making a backdoor listing in China after leaving New York in 2013.
Meantime in a related piece of news Xueda Education (NYSE: XUE) said it has received a buy-out offer from Chinese financial firm Insight Investment (Shenzhen: 000526). Such a move would continue a trend that has seen a growing number of neglected US-listed Chinese firms abandon New York, where their shares have stagnated over the last few years. Read Full Post…
It seems appropriate that 2 more longtime-listed Chinese companies are bowing out of New York as we head into the final days of 2013, with word that shareholders have approved plans to privatize telecoms software maker AsiaInfo-Linkage (Nasdaq: ASIA) and drugmaker Simcere Pharmaceutical (NYSE: SCR). AsiaInfo was the more lively of these 2 de-listing stories, with a narrow majority of shareholders approving a buy-out offer after several months of protest from others who thought the price was too low. Meantime, Simcere’s looming privatization raises the question of what’s next for this neglected company, whose foreign partners include Bristol-Myers Squbb (NYSE: BMY) and Merck (NYSE: MRK). Read Full Post…
The end of life as a public company is fast approaching for telecoms software maker AsiaInfo-Linkage (Nasdaq: ASIA), marking the end of a long chapter for one of China’s first technology firms to list overseas. A newly announced special meeting will see AsiaInfo shareholders vote on a plan to privatize the company, whose shares have been ignored for years now by western investors. More broadly speaking, AsiaInfo’s looming buyout represents the challenges that smaller China tech firms face as they struggle to be noticed by western investors.Read Full Post…
