Bottom line: New mega fund-raising by Citic and Galaxy Securities could presage a flurry of global buying in the year ahead as non-banking financial firms look to expand abroad.
Citic raises $10 billion
Massive new fund raising by 2 major Chinese financial firms is showing that these companies remain an attractive option for international investors, even as traditional banks have become a pariah due to their huge volumes of bad debt. The deals by financial conglomerate Citic Ltd (HKEx: 267) and Galaxy Securities (HKEx: 6881) will raise a collective $12.3 billion, and could also presage a new wave of global buying by fast-growing Chinese financial firms outside the nation’s traditional banks. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The latest M&A in China’s brokerage sector involving Essence Securities could presage a new wave of tie-ups between Chinese and foreign brokerages, boosted by the Hong Kong-Shanghai stock exchange link.
Essence joins brokerage consolidation trend
A new reverse takeover involving a major Chinese brokerage is shining a spotlight on the potential for new deals in the sector following this week’s launch of a ground-breaking program linking the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. This particular deal involves Essence Securities, which is becoming a publicly traded company following its purchase by Shanghai-listed textile firm Sinotex Investment (Shanghai: 600061). But more intriguing is the very real possibility that major foreign brokerages may start to look for tie-up opportunities with Chinese peers in anticipation of synergistic partnerships to take advantage of the new Hong Kong-Shanghai Connect program. Read Full Post…
When is a modestly successful IPO cause for big celebration? The answer is: When your name is LightInTheBox, and you’ve just completed the first IPO in New York by a Chinese company in a half a year. Not only is LightInTheBox the first major New York IPO by a Chinese firm this year, but it’s also only the third such offering since the beginning of 2012, reflecting the chilly investor climate that has stifled such listings on Wall Street for more than 2 years. Read Full Post…
Today I want to give myself the poor timing award for my recent remarks about the upcoming New York IPO for Chinese e-commerce firm LightInTheBox. A day after commenting that the company’s IPO had mysteriously disappeared 5 weeks after it was first announced, media are now reporting that the offering is indeed moving ahead with a new public filing. (Chinese article) What’s more, my speculation that the silence could be due to lack of investor interest also seems to be at least partly incorrect, since the latest reports indicate the company could still raise up to the full $86 million that it had originally indicated in its first public filing in April. Read Full Post…
Galaxy, Sinopec Engineering sputter out of the gate
Everyone is hailing the success of 2 massive China IPOs this week that seems to herald a new uptick in the moribund sector, with relatively strong debuts for offerings from Galaxy Securities (HKEx: 6681) and Sinopec Engineering (HKEx: 2386). But I’m going to go ahead and play the contrarian here by noting that these 2 offerings are hardly the success that many people desperately want to see, meaning it could still be months or even next year before we see real signs of life return to the market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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GalaxySecurities (HKEx: 6881) Soars 11 Pct In Debut After $1.1 Bln HK IPO (English article)
Sovereign Funds, China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939) Buy Into Russia’s VTB (English article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Partners with Etao to Introduce Shopping Search (English article)
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) Reports Q1 Unaudited Results (PRNewswire)
Pactera (Nasdaq: PACT) Board Forms Privatization Plan Review Committee (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 18-20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Having let the markets get pumped up with huge expectations for its upcoming mega IPO, e-commerce leader Alibaba now appears to be trying to temper some of those high hopes in the run-up to an offering that is likely to be the biggest ever for a Chinese Internet firm. The reason for the sudden change of tone? Apparently the company wants to avoid following in the footsteps of social networking giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), whose IPO was so overhyped by the time it finally occurred that it was almost bound to result in failure and major disappointment. Read Full Post…
After a dismal first quarter, we’re seeing the latest signs of new life in the moribund market for offshore Chinese IPOs with the planned launch of 2 major new offerings later this week in Hong Kong. The pair of IPOs, one for brokerage Galaxy Securities and the other for a unit of oil major Sinopec (HKEx: 386; Shanghai: 600028; NYSE: SNP), could raise up to $3.5 billion combined, following a dismal first quarter for new listings. The IPOs would also come as online retailer LightInTheBox seeks to launch the year’s first public offering for a Chinese company in New York later this month. Read Full Post…
After a 2012 that most investment bankers would probably prefer to forget, the new year is starting off on a more hopeful note for IPOs with news of offerings from brokerage Galaxy Securities and the website of state-owned media giant Xinhua both generating positive buzz. These latest signs of life follow other similar positive signals in the US late last year, after a commercially-focused social media site named YY (Nasdaq: YY) completed only the second major offering for a Chinese firm in New York during the year and saw its shares perform reasonably well. (previous post) All of this points to a potential rebound for Chinese stocks both inside and outside China in the year ahead, which could unleash a flood of new IPOs by companies that had to wait on the sidelines due to the chilly market last year but are keen to tap financial markets for new funds.
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 5-7. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
After a 2012 that most investment bankers would probably prefer to forget, the new year is starting off on a more hopeful note for IPOs with news of offerings from brokerage Galaxy Securities and the website of state-owned media giant Xinhua both generating positive buzz. These latest signs of life follow other similar positive signals in the US late last year, after a commercially-focused social media site named YY (Nasdaq: YY) completed only the second major offering for a Chinese firm in New York during the year and saw its shares perform reasonably well. (
