The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Oppo Becomes Major Southeast Asia Smartphone Player, Xiaomi Enters India Top 3 (Chinese article)
SocGen (Paris: SOGN ) in Talks to Sell 49 Pct of China Asset Manager to Warburg (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Installs Phone Scam Warning System in Inner Mongolia (Chinese article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Announces Pricing of Offering of ADSs (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: iDreamSky’s finalized buyout offer marks the start of a new wave that will see more than a half dozen US-listed Chinese firms sign similar offers by the Lunar New Year, mostly at the same prices from original privatization deals announced last year.
iDreamSky finalizes buyout bid
The New Year is kicking off with a shot of deja vu, as a wave of companies that announced privatization bids in the first half of 2015 are now returning to investors with concrete offers. In the latest chapter of this two-part wave, mobile game operator iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY) has just announced its signing of a formal deal to take the company private.
iDreamSky announced its original intent to privatize last June, at the height of a wave that saw about 3 dozen such de-listing bids proposed last year, mostly in the first half. The wave of announcements skidded to a halt in mid June when China’s stock markets underwent a massive correction after an even larger rally. But with China’s markets showing signs of stability, the de-listing movement has resumed. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The see-saw performance of iDreamSky shares after its buyout offer reflects a growing number of speculators in the market for US-listed China shares, while Legend’s Hong Kong IPO is likely to price and debut weakly.
iDreamSky gets buyout offer
As we head into the end of June, the first half of 2015 is set to set an unusual record of becoming the first such period to see a negative number of New York IPOs by Chinese companies. That fact is being driven by a record number of companies that have announced privatization plans, including the latest by mobile game developer iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY). If this latest plan is successful, iDreamSky would also set a new record for shortest time ever as a New York-listed Chinese firm, since the company only made its IPO last August.
Meantime, one actual IPO that is moving forward is coming in Hong Kong, where Legend Holdings, parent of PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992), has set a price range, date and chosen a ticker for its offering. This particular deal appears to be getting a ho-hum reception in Hong Kong, as most investors remain fixated on a rally across the Chinese border that has seen China’s domestic stock markets more than double over the last year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 16. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Didi Kuaidi Seeks $1.5 Bln in Funding to Fend Off Uber – Source (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Plans to Roll Out Paid Video Service (Chinese article)
Lawson Plans To Triple China Convenience Store Count to 1,000 in 2-3 Years (Chinese article)
iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY) Receives Proposal to Acquire the Company (GlobeNewswire)
Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) Plans to Lay Offs Several High-Level China Executives (Chinese article)
Bottom line: China Mobile Games could be combined with Shanda Games if buyouts for the 2 companies succeed, followed by a re-listing in China that could gain strong interest from local investors.
China Mobile Games joins de-listing queue
The latest news that China Mobile Games (Nasdaq: CMGE) has received a buyout offer won’t surprise anyone, as it becomes the latest New York-listed Chinese Internet firm to receive such a bid due to its low valuation. What does come as a slight surprise is investor reaction to the bid, which saw China Mobile Games’ share price drop to well below the offer price. The could reflect some skepticism about the quality of this particular bid, which is coming from a Chinese securities brokerage.
This deal marks the latest in a long string of similar buyouts for US-listed Chinese firms whose shares have often languished in New York due to lack of interest from western investors who are unfamiliar with these names. Many of the companies are eying quick re-listings in their home China market, where they believe they can get valuations that are as much as double what they were worth in New York. Read Full Post…
In the absence of big company news so far this week, I’ve decided tolook at the scorecard for the flood of technology IPOs over the last 12 months and what it might say about what’s ahead into next year. The record so far looks quite good in general, especially for companies that made a flurry of New York offerings at the end of last year and whose shares have mostly doubled or more since then.
But one notable exception to the trend is mobile games, as 2 of the 3 major players to make recent listings are now squarely in negative territory. That doesn’t bode well for a 3 upcoming similar listings, 1 in New York and 2 in Hong Kong, which appear to be stalling due to the cool investor sentiment. Read Full Post…
The latest headlines about an upcoming IPO for online game operator Linekong made me realize it’s been quite a while since we last saw any news of offshore listing plans by Chinese Internet and tech firms. Such listings were coming nonstop earlier this year, and saw a wide range of names including the Twitter-like Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) and real estate services site Leju (NYSE: LEJU) all make IPOs in New York. But the Internet IPO pipeline has gone largely silent since early August, when mobile game operator iDreamSky (Nasdaq: DSKY) made its trading debut. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Dairy Farm to Pay $925 Million For China’s Yonghui (Shanghai: 601933) Stake (English article)
Xiaomi Admits To Secretly Collecting User Information In Taiwan, Apologizes (Chinese article)
Separate reports about a new IPO by one company and potential exit from the Nasdaq by another are reflecting the mixed feelings that Chinese firms have for New York, where public listings can bring both prestige and also headaches. In the new listing category, media are reporting that yet another mobile game developer called iDreamSky has just made its first public filing for a New York IPO to raise up to $110 million. Meantime, other media are reporting that veteran online travel service eLong (Nasdaq: LONG) could be gearing up for a buy-out by much larger rival Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China To Try GSK-linked (London: GSK) Investigator In Secret: Family Friends (English article)
