The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on September 15-19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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WuMart Joins Bidding for China McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), 3 Groups Submit Bids (Chinese article)
PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) Reaches Deeper Into China With UnionPay Partnership (English article)
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Investigates Potential Autopilot Link in Fatal China Crash (English article)
China or India Next on Pokemon Go Roadmap – Reports (Chinese article)
Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) Unexpected Changes Chief, Danone (Paris: DANO) Plays Bigger Role (Chinese article)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on April 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Bottom line: Bright Food’s overseas IPO plans for its British Weetabix and Australian Manassen brands could get lukewarm response due to investor skepticism about their growth prospects.
Bright eyes offshore IPOs for Weetabix, Manassen
I’ve watched with interest over the last 2 years as Shanghai-based Bright Food has quietly gobbled up a stream of high-profile global investments, positioning the company to potentially become one of China’s first international consumer brands to rival giants like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Kraft Foods (Nasdaq: KRFT). Now we’re getting further details of Bright’s growing global aspirations, with word that it’s planning a series of international IPOs including potential major listings in Hong Kong and London. Read Full Post…
China’s campaign to clean up its fragmented and scandal-plagued food industry has gotten a boost on the meat front, with word of a new tie-up between national grains giant COFCO and global private equity giants KKR and Baring Private Equity Asia. This latest move is part of Beijing’s growing effort to bring in foreign expertise to create a handful of major food groups that can ensure product quality and food safety. Unfortunately, nearly all the major giants now emerging are big state-run companies, meaning most of these firms are likely to be quite bureaucratic and most won’t be available to foreign stock buyers. Read Full Post…
Bright Dairy (Shanghai: 600597) and Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) are rapidly emerging as China’s 2 dairy firms to watch as Beijing encourages consolidation in the scandal-plagued sector in a bid to create a handful of giants that can win back consumer confidence. Both companies have been in a steady stream of headlines over the last 2 days, showcasing their growing clout not only at home but also on the world stage. Bright is making news as it nears a deal to take a big stake in Israeli dairy Tnuva, and also as it receives big new funding from a global investor. Meantime, Mengniu is also making headlines as it boosts its growing ties with French giant Danone (Paris: DANO), and as its shares mark an important milestone on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) Eases Permissioning Process For Shanghai, Other Big Cities (Chinese article)
Wangfujing Department Store, Tencent (HKEx: 700) Partner on WeChat Payment (English article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Prices Offerings of 2.78 Mln Shares, $130 Mln Convertible Notes (PRNewswire)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Reports Unaudited Q4, Full Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
Danone (Paris: DANO) To Raise Stake In Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) For $665 Mln (English article)
Leading domestic dairy company Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) and e-commerce company LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) are in the headlines with new foreign tie-ups, including a joint venture for the former and a modest acquisition for the latter. I personally find the Mengniu development more interesting and significant, as it marks the latest move in the company’s drive to become China’s leading dairy products maker and positions it for an eventual global expansion. But investors were much more excited by the LightInTheBox move, which sparked a major rally for the firm’s languishing shares. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 7. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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WhiteWave Foods (NYSE: WWAV) To Form JV With Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) (Businesswire)
Unicom (HKEx: 762) Vice President Li Gang Resigns To Join VNO Licensee (Chinese article)
Media are buzzing about the latest survey on China’s most valuable brands, with each providing its own interpretation of the latest list from global advertising giant WPP (London: WPP) and its Millward Brown affiliate. Many companies that I regularly write about are at the top of the list, but an equally interesting is who isn’t there. I’m referring to consumer brands that are common elements of daily life for most people, printed on everything from shampoos to instant noodles. This category is currently dominated by foreign names, but the new list hints that 1 or 2 Chinese firms could be positioned to become the country’s first equivalent of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) or Unilever (London: ULVR). Read Full Post…
Two new stories in the consumer space are offering an interesting look at the difficulty of taking over Hong Kong-listed companies, providing headaches for potential acquirers but also interesting opportunities for minority investors. The 2 cases involve dairy giant Mengniu (HKEx: 2319) and Swedish paper products company SCA (Stockholm: SCAA), which have each bought a controlling stake of their Hong Kong-listed targets rather than the taking outright ownership that both probably would have preferred. In the former case, Mengniu was aiming to buy raw milk supplier Yashili (HKEx: 1230), while SCA was aiming to buy tissue products maker Vinda (HKEx: 3331) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) In Advanced Talks To Buy PPTV For $400 Mln – Source (Chinese article)
Microsoft, BesTV (Shanghai: 600637) to Invest up to $237 Mln in China Venture (English article)
US Solar Group Offers Proposal To End US-China Panel Dispute (Group announcement)
KKR, Modern Dairy (HKEx: 1117) To Build Large Scale Farms in Shandong (Businesswire)
Alibaba Launches Taobao C2C Service In Singapore (English article)
