The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on June 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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MIIT to Forbid Non-telcos from Providing Free Enterprise Voice Calling – Reports (English article)
Sanpower Group Enters Bidding for McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) China Stores (Chinese article)
Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) Announces Receipt of “Going Private” Proposal (GlobeNewswire)
Mango TV Raises 1.5 Bln Yuan in Second Funding Round, Valuation Doubles (Chinese article)
Huawei Lowers 2016 Smartphone Target by 20 Mln Units – Report (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Mango TV’s scaled-back new funding reflects the potential and stiff competition in China’s online video market, while Lufax’s Chinese and foreign roots could make it a name to watch in the emerging private financial services sector.
Mango TV nears $1.5 billion funding
Two fund-raising deals likely to be among China’s largest next year are in the headlines as we close the week, led by a major paring back of plans by upstart online video company Mango TV. The other news is shedding more light on aggressive expansion plans by Lufax, another upstart in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending space, which is in the process of seeking $1 billion in new funds.
Let’s jump right in with the Mango deal, which is reportedly close to wrapping and will see the company raise $1.5 billion. (Chinese article) I’m admit I’m not completely sure that the figure is US dollars, as the Chinese report doesn’t specify if it’s dollars or Chinese yuan. But the US dollar figure is more consistent with reports last month, which said Mango was seeking to raise up to 20 billion yuan, or about $3.2 billion in its second funding round. (previous post) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Mango TV to Complete 1.5 Bln Yuan Funding Round in January (Chinese article)
BaiduMusic (Nasdaq: BIDU), Taihe MusicGroup to Merge into New Company (English article)
Aston Martin Turns to China’s LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) to Soup Up Supercars (English article)
iKang Healthcare (Nasdaq: KANG) Adopts Shareholder Rights Agreement (GlobeNewswire)
Didi, Lyft Entering Four-Way Alliance to Take on Uber for Rides (English article)
Bottom line: Chinese video- and entertainment-related companies will continue to attract big investments and valuations over the next year due to their strong growth potential, even as sentiment cools towards other new media companies.
Mango TV eyes major new funding
Investor sentiment may be rapidly cooling towards many Internet areas in China, but entertainment is one that still remains quite popular. That’s my latest read on the markets, following news of major new financing for 2 companies and a new Sino-foreign co-production deal in the hot video and movie-making sectors.
Up-and-coming online video operator Mango TV is at the center of the biggest news in terms of value, with media reporting it’s aiming to raise a hefty 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) in just its second funding round. Movie ticket booking app Weiying Shidai is in a smaller but still sizable fund-raising headline, with reports that it has just raised 1.5 billion yuan in its third funding round. Last but not least is word of a film co-production deal between local studio Huace (Shenzhen: 300133) and global giant Twenty-First Century Fox (Nasdaq: FOX). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tsinghua Unigroup to Invest $47 Bln to Build Chip Empire (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 24-26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO Says Negotiating with China on Local Production (English article)
Bottom line: Oriental Pearl’s new purchase of a stake in a set-top box and TV maker is part of a broader series of recent moves that could help position it to emerge as a viable rival to China’s private online video companies.
SMG buys into TV maker MTC
State-run broadcaster Shanghai Media Group (SMG) is wasting no time telling the world who it sees as its main rivals, with word that the company is buying a major stake in a TV and set-top box maker after completing an overhaul of its own digital TV assets. Anyone who follows the industry will know that the high-flying LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) appears to be the major target of this new SMG tie-up, which is seeing the company’s newly launched Oriental Pearl (Shanghai: 600637) digital video unit purchase a major stake in a Shenzhen-listed company called MTC (Shenzhen: 002429) for 2.2 billion yuan ($350 million). Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s traditional broadcasters need to move quickly to forge new, meaningful partnerships with private companies outside the media space, or risk being overtaken by new media rivals.
Mango TV ties with China Mobile
Two of China’s leading regional broadcasters have been in the headlines these last 2 weeks, as they scramble to transform themselves to compete with a new generation of web-based private companies that are rapidly stealing their viewers and advertising dollars. Both stories involve new tie-ups with industry outsiders, reflecting the need to bring in new expertise to help these state-run broadcasters leverage digital and web-based technologies that will dominate the media landscape of the future.
The first big story came 2 weeks ago, when Shanghai Media Group (SMG) signed a landmark deal with e-commerce titan Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) to develop a financial news and information service that could someday take on the likes of global giants like Bloomberg and Reuters (NYSE: TRT). The second came last week, when media reported that Hunan Satellite TV had raised 1 billion yuan ($162 million) in the first private funding round for its fledgling paid video service Mango TV. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Towers Watson, Shanda, Citic Vying for Russell Investments – Sources (English article)
Hunan TV’s Mango TV Raises 500 Mln Yuan, Valued At More Than 7 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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German Car Parts Suppliers Asked To Form JVs In China: Stuttgarter (English article)
Taobao, Vanke (HKEx: 2202) In Property Selling Initiative (Chinese article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Announces Interim Results (HKEx announcement)
Hunan Satellite TV Spends 1 Bln Yuan To Support Mango TV (Chinese article)
MIIT Issues Third Batch Of VNO Licenses To 6 Recipients (Chinese article)
