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Tag Archives: Fosun
Fosun latest Business & Financial news from Doug Young, the Expert on Chinese High Tech Market, (former Journalist and Chief editor at Reuters) Fosun is Chinese company.
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lufax Completes Fundraising, Valuing Company at $18.5 Bln (English article)
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Unveils $280 Mln Joint Venture with Chinese Province (English article)
Fosun’s Guo Guangchang in Sports Tie-Up With European “Super Broker” (Chinese article)
Synutra (Nasdaq: SYUT) Announces Receipt of “Going Private” Proposal (PRNewswire)
Huawei Sets 2016 Sales Target of $81.8 Bln (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Beijing should make investigators be more transparent when making publicly visible moves like detaining company executives, or risk financial turmoil when markets are left to try and guess what’s happening.
Transparency needed when big execs are detained
Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign took an unexpected turn into the private sector last week with the sudden disappearance of Guo Guangchang, one of China’s richest men and chairman of one of its most successful private conglomerates, Fosun Group. Word of Guo’s disappearance sparked widespread speculation and also some panic among investors in his dozen listed companies, forcing the group to scramble for answers to avoid financial chaos.
The case highlights the need for greater transparency by anti-graft investigators as they dig deeper into China’s corporate realm to root out corruption that has become all too common in the nation’s business culture. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 12-14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Buying South China Morning Post, Aiming to Influence Media (English article)
Bottom line: The detention of Fosun Chairman Guo Guangchang could signal a move into the private sector for Beijing’s anti-corruption drive, a move that would put top executives in traditional sectors like finance and real estate most at risk.
Questions hover over disappearance of Guo Guangchang
Beijing’s 2-year-old anti-corruption drive has taken an unexpected twist into the private sector, with word that one of the country’s richest men and head of the high-profile Fosun Group was taken away by police. There’s very little detail on reasons behind the disappearance of Guo Guangchang, sometimes called the Warren Buffett of China for his investing acumen. But speculation centers on his potential involvement in corruption investigations involving a major figure in his home base of Shanghai.
Up until now, nearly all of the dozens of company executives being investigated for corruption have come from the state-run sector, where officials are much more likely to use their position for personal gain. But corrupt practices like lavish gift giving and bribery are a fundamental part of doing business in China, and there’s little doubt that such practices also occur in the country’s vibrant private sector. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 11. 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 November 28-30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Mobile (HKEx: 941) in $5 Bln Deal to Consolidate TieTong Assets (English article)
Oddo Counters Fosun (HKEx: 565) with 760 Mln Euro Offer for BHF Kleinwort Benson (English article)
Alibaba-backed (NYSE: BABA) Evergrande Soccer Team to Raise Over $400 Mln (English article)
P2P Lending Site Lufax to List on HK Stock Exchange in 2016 – Source (English article)
58.com (NYSE: WUBA) Hopes to Get Financial Services License in 2 Year – CEO (Chinese article)
Bottom line: A Chinese buyer could have a strong chance of winning the bidding for US hotel operator Starwood, with CIC most likely to emerge as Beijing’s preferred candidate among a trio of interested local buyers.
Chinese buyers eye Starwood Hotels
Just a day after China’s 2 leading travel sites put aside their bitter rivalry and formed a major new alliance, we’re getting word of yet another major deal in the hot tourism sector. This time media are saying 3 Chinese buyers are eyeing Starwood (NYSE: HOT), one of the world’s top hotel operators. The 3 potential bidders include 2 of China’s leading private equity investors, China Investment Corp (CIC) and HNA Group. The third is one of China’s top hotel operators, Jin Jiang (HKEx: 2006; Shanghai: 600574), which has been on a buying spree recently both at home and abroad.
If one of the 3 succeeds, the deal would mark the largest purchase ever of an offshore asset by a Chinese buyer, based on Starwood’s latest market value of $15 billion. Word of the deal comes just a day after leading domestic online travel agents Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) buried the hatchet in their bloody battle for share in China’s fast-growing travel market. A Starwood deal would also come less than a week after US-British cruise operator Carnival (NYSE: CCL) formed a new joint venture with 2 Chinese partners. (Chinese article) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Guahao’s new mega-funding spotlights big growth possibilities for private medical service providers, while Hertz could continue to sell down its stake in Car Inc as China’s auto market slows.
Guahao finds riches in medical booking app
IPOs may have ground to a halt due to China’s recent market volatility, but that hasn’t stopped a steady flow of buying and selling into high-growth companies by big investors looking for the next hot trend. One such operator of a medical services app looks like the latest flavor of the day, with reports that a company called Guahao has just landed nearly $400 million in new funding. Meantime, leading rental car operator Car Inc (HKEx: 699) moved in the opposite direction, losing some momentum after early strategic investor Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) sold down more of its stake in the company.
Both of these deals are part of the natural ebb and flow of funds into and out of Chinese companies, and are often a good pointer of where the next trends might emerge. App developers have become a hot investment area, and private medical service providers are also gaining momentum under China’s overhaul of its healthcare system. Meantime, the car market is moving in the other direction due to China’s slowing economy, which is probably making big global names like Hertz less bullish on the market. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Huayi Bros could be moving towards an eventual goal of becoming China’s first major Hollywood-style studio through its massive new 30 billion yuan partnership with Ping An Bank.
HUayi goes to the movies with Ping An
It’s become quite common in China these days to see non-entertainment companies pour millions of dollars into entertainment-related ventures, most notably film-production deals. Everyone’s goal is to repeat the success of recent box office hits like “Monster Hunt”, which are earning big money by drawing on a fast-growing Chinese box office that could pass the US to become the world’s largest in the next decade.
But even I was surprised to see the size of the latest mega tie-up, which will see Ping An Bank pair with the highly successful independent movie producer Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027) in a massive partnership with 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) in investment. That’s quite a large sum of money for the entertainment space, and is roughly comparable to how much e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) said it would pay last week for 20 percent of retailing giant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024). Read Full Post…
Flooded streets filled the Shanghai headlines for much of this week, but local officials were also working hard to make sure another, more upbeat story also shared the spotlight with early Plum Rains that caused massive headaches for commuters. Film buffs will know I’m talking about the annual Shanghai International Film Festival, which tries to showcase the city’s rising position in China’s rapidly evolving entertainment industry.
I’ve previously written about Shanghai’s entertainment sector, which was a trend-setter during its heyday in the early 20th century but later became neglected as local focus shifted to the city’s financial industry. But 2 events at the latest film festival caught my attention, and seemed to show our city is finally taking more serious steps to try and develop a creative entertainment culture that can be a true leader rather than just a follower. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A new strategic investment in LightInTheBox by a major shoemaker is a vote of confidence in its turnaround story, while Bona Film’s buyout offer caps a week of record privatization activity for US-listed Chinese firms.
LightInTheBox gets new strategic partner
Last week’s privatization frenzy for US-listed Chinese firms saw one more company join the queue on the final day of the week, with movie maker Bona Film (Nasdaq: BONA) adding its name to the list of companies looking to end their relationship with fickle New York investors. That final offer brought the number of US-listed Chinese firms receiving buyout offers last week to 5, which must surely be a record for such bids in a single week.
Meantime, another interesting deal has seen underperforming e-commerce company LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) receive its own big new investment from one of China’s leading shoemakers. That deal saw Aokang Shoes (Shanghai: 603001) buy about a quarter of LightInTheBox’s shares, hinting at a major new direction for the foreign-focused e-commerce company and also implying it’s unlikely to de-list from New York anytime soon. Read Full Post…
