A series of moves surrounding leading e-commerce firms Alibaba and Jingdong are raising speculation that the pair could be accelerating towards highly anticipated IPOs that have become stalled for different reasons. Alibaba wants desperately to list in Hong Kong, but was thwarted after a disagreement with local regulators. Now media are speculating that a recent personnel move involving one of those regulators could breathe new life into the Hong Kong listing plan. Jingdong, meantime, tried to launch an IPO last year but failed due to lack of investor interest. Now media are reporting the company is on the cusp of a major acquisition, indicating it may be trying to raise its profile as it prepares for another IPO attempt.Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Daimler (Frankfurt: DAIGn) Seeks To Revive China Operations With Beijing Auto Deal (English article)
8 Foreign Banks Approved To Open Branches In Shanghai Free Trade Zone (Chinese article)
Jingdong to Acquire MediaV for $700 Mln – Sources (English article)
Sometimes it seems like I’m living in slow motion when I write about China telecoms, since major developments in the sector often drag on for months past their expected launch dates. That’s been the case for 3 major new initiatives that could inject important new life into the space, even though rumored launch dates for all 3 have passed numerous times. The latest news bits on all 3 indicate things are still moving ahead, meaning perhaps we will someday soon see the announcement of licenses for 4G mobile service and new virtual network operators (VNOs), as well as the launch of a new national broadband network operator.Read Full Post…
Leading global toymaker Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and top retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) are quietly tinkering with their China approaches, as each tries to find success in a market that is so big they can’t afford to ignore it. Despite that allure, both global leaders have had difficulty making money in China to date, after relying too much on their global business practices that didn’t appeal to Chinese consumers. Now Walmart is making a second, quieter play at the market through its growing ties with e-commerce company Yihaodian. Mattel is also taking a longer term approach by trying to popularize its globally famous Barbie dolls and other toy brands among Chinese children and their parents. Read Full Post…
A new flurry of e-commerce news bits shows that competition in the sector continues unabated, with no signs of easing anytime soon. Sector leader Alibaba tops the headlines with word that it’s rolling out same-day delivery service for customers of its industry-leading TMall B2C site. Meantime, Yihaodian is drawing on its connections with global retailing giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to boost its imported food business amid China’s nonstop series of food-safety scandals. These and similarly aggressive moves are also leading to signs of growing stress, with Jingdong, the second largest operator, making a strange anti-competitive complaint about rival Suning’s (Shenzhen: 002024) recent unified pricing policy. Read Full Post…
I’m always looking for signs that the overseas IPO market for Chinese tech firms may finally be warming after a long winter now in its third year, but the latest signs from privatizing IT outsourcing firm Pactera (Nasdaq: PACT) and restaurant ratings site Dianping are hardly encouraging. Pactera has just announced it has formally signed a buyout offer that will take the company private, making it the latest in a long string of Chinese companies to de-list from New York. Meantime, media are reporting that Dianping, a dynamic site often likened to US site Yelp (NYSE: YELP), doesn’t plan to list for the next 5 years. Read Full Post…
Online apparel retailer Vancl continues to struggle, with media reporting the former e-commerce rising star has fallen into arrears in payments to many of its suppliers, including more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) owed to sporting apparel maker Li Ning (HKEx: 2331). The latest reports are citing company chief Chen Nian saying that Vancl experienced its darkest period late last year, and is now on the mend. But if reports of the arrears are true, Vancl’s failure to pay its suppliers could mark the beginning of the end for the company, which has made a number of major adjustments over the past 2 years in a bid to find sustainable long-term profits. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Rattled By Investigations, Foreign Firms In China Beef Up Compliance (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 31-September 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
A new report on the explosion of e-commerce in China seems like a good opportunity to take a broader look at the sector and its longer term potential, including which players are likely to emerge as the big winners over the longer term. The latest figures indicate the potential of e-commerce in China is huge, meaning we could ultimately see 2 or 3 major players succeed in the market. But that also means we’re likely to see at least 3 or 4 casualties in the current battle for supremacy, since the field of major, well-funded contenders current numbers around 6 or 7. Read Full Post…
A year after winning a license for domestic parcel delivery in China, global giant UPS (NYSE: UPS) is rolling out a major expansion in the market in a bid to capitalize on the local boom in e-commerce. This kind of expansion could be especially profitable for UPS, as it could profit not only from an explosion in demand for delivery services, but also from demand for its highly profitable logistics services. E-commerce companies could welcome such third-party logistics services, as many are already building up their own networks of warehouses in a bid to deliver their goods more efficiently.
Read Full Post…
