Tag Archives: PayPal

Post Office Delivers Attractive IPO 中邮速递推进IPO 或将受热捧

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After months of seeing a steady stream of lackluster IPOs go to market, often with lukewarm or  disastrous receptions, I’m finally happy to report the year’s first truly exciting new offering coming from the courier unit of China’s post office, which could be followed later in the year by another exciting listing for UnionPay, operator of the nation’s dominant electronic money transferring network. Let’s look first at the upcoming offering for China Postal Express, the package delivery unit of China Post, which has filed for a Shanghai listing to raise up to $1.6 billion. (English article) Reports of this offering first came out late last year, which looks like a smart way for investors to buy into China’s booming e-commerce story. (previous post) Financial details in China Postal Express’ IPO prospectus are few, but the broader industry data show China’s e-commerce market is now worth around $100 billion annually, translating to more than 1 billion small packages that must be shipped each year to buyers scattered around the country. As China’s biggest delivery service with a network covering the entire country, China Post is in a great position to capture a big portion of this e-commerce delivery business, and I suspect its own courier business is now highly profitable. Key risks are the cutthroat competition in the space that has driven many smaller couriers into the red, as well as China Posts’ own history as a state-owned entity that means it may lack many of the entrepreneurial instincts needed to become China’s next equivalent of UPS (NYSE: UPS) or FedEx (NYSE: FDX). But despite those risks, this certainly looks like the most exciting IPO we’ve seen so far this year, and I would expect demand to be high. Meantime, media are reporting that UnionPay, operator of an electronic money transfer network similar to Visa’s (NYSE: V) Plus network, is gearing up for its own big drive into the e-commerce space, with plans to launch a rewards system aimed at getting more people to use its online payments service over rivals like Alibaba’s AliPay or eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) Paypal. (Chinese article) News of this plan is just the latest high profile move by UnionPay, which has the enviable advantage of counting most of the nation’s major banks as its shareholders. In previous months, we’ve seen UnionPay announce a string of other strategic moves and information, including an aggressive campaign to expand its network overseas and the recent release of some operating numbers which show its profit has exploded in recent years. (previous post) What’s more, there’s every reason to believe that UnionPay’s big bank shareholders would like to cash out some of their investment in the near future as part of their bid to strengthen their capital bases weakened by several years of binge lending under China’s economic stimulus plan of 2009 and 2010. All those factors lead me to strongly suspect that UnionPay is moving towards its own IPO, most likely a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which could come sometime in the second half of the year. If and when that happens, look for the offering to spark even more excitement than this Post Office one, as it offers a solid window into China’s financial services industry without many of the traditional risks of investing in the country’s state-owned banks.

Bottom line: The upcoming IPO by the courier arm of China’s post office should get strong demand as a good e-commerce play, while UnionPay also looks to be moving closer to another exciting IPO.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Post Office: A Good E-Commerce Play 中国邮政分拆速递物流可谓电子商务”妙招

◙ UnionPay Stirs IPO Pot With Big Numbers 银联有望上市

◙ MoneyGram In Latest Financial Services Move 速汇金携手中行 提供汇款服务

MoneyGram In Latest Financial Services Move 速汇金携手中行 提供汇款服务

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After years of watching the major global banks first pile into China only to more recently retreat, it’s refreshing to see a new wave of lower-key investments and tie-ups coming into the country again from second-tier players with more realistic expectations for the market. The latest in this string of lower-profile deals has MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI) signing a deal to provide its specialty money-transferring services through Bank of China’s (HKEx: 3988; Shanghai: 601988) more than 10,000 branches nationwide. (company announcement) The deal sharply expands a previous tie-up that had the pair offering MoneyGram’s services at a much smaller 240 Bank of China branches in Beijing, and is clearly targeted at the growing number of Chinese living overseas, who now send an estimated $57 billion home each year. The deal follows another similar expansion of a tie-up between MoneyGram and ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398), another of China’s top 4 banks, aimed at money transfers between Japan and China. Other interesting lower-key deals in recent months have included an investment in a domestic electronic payments company called Lianlian by American Express (NYSE: AXP) (previous post), and several major tie-ups between foreign banks with UnionPay, China’s operator of a financial settlements network similar to the Cirrus and Plus networks operated by MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V). PayPal, the electronic payments arm of online auctions specialist eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) has also indicated it wants to delve further into China’s domestic e-payments market, stating very clearly on several recent occasions that it has applied for a new round of licenses soon to be offered for such services. (previous post). While names like MoneyGram, PayPal and even American Express aren’t as high-profile as the more familiar global banking giants, their quieter and relatively cautious advance is a refreshing and strong contrast to big names like Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which have all recently  retreated from a market that all previously hyped as full of potential with its billion-plus consumers. Citi recently sold its long-held stake in a regional Shanghai bank, while Bank of America and Goldman have sold off most or all of their stakes in China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939; Shanghai: 601939) and ICBC, respectively. (previous post) Citi, Bank of America and Goldman were all quite bullish on China’s potential when they made their investments around 5-6 years ago; but since then they’ve discovered the tie-ups didn’t really help them to build up their China presence, and most finally sold their stakes to raise cash to bolster their balance sheets after the global financial crisis. I personally think these smaller, more targeted investments from the likes of MoneyGram, American Express and PayPal are much more realistic than the bigger headline-grabbing purchases of the big global banks, and would fully expect to see an acceleration in similar moves from other smaller global players in the next 2 years.

Bottom line: MoneyGram’s latest tie-up with Bank of China looks like a smart, targeted play at China’s financial services market, with more smaller, low-key deals likely in the next 2 years.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ AmEx Chases E-Payments With Lianlian Link 美国运通联手中国连连集团

◙ Goldman Flees ICBC as Bank Crisis Looms 中国银行业危机隐现 高盛迅速转让工行股票

◙ New UnionPay Tie-Up Boosts US Presence in IPO Run-up 中国银联携手US Bancorp 未来有望两地上市

Alibaba vs eBay: Chapter 2 Begins 阿里巴巴和eBay狭路又相逢

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After engaging in a bloody war in the online auctions space 7 years ago that ironically resulted in no winners, leading e-commerce firms Alibaba and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) may be gearing up for a second round in this entertaining conflict in the lucrative electronic payments area. That’s the way it looks following the latest disclosure that PayPal, eBay’s highly successful e-payments service, intends to enter China’s fast-growing domestic electronic payments market. (English article) In fact, PayPal already processes electronic payments between China and other countries, and indicated as early as last fall that it was seriously considering a bid to enter China’s domestic market that would allow it to process payments between Chinese buyers and sellers. That market is currently off limits to foreign-invested companies, but the country is now accepting applications and many it expect it to issue its first licenses to the group later this year, following the licensing of domestic players last year. A top PayPal executive has said he is cautiously optimistic his company will be one of the first foreign recipients of a new license. Anyone who follows the market knows that PayPal’s entry to the market would put it in direct competition with Alibaba’s AliPay, which has grown rapidly to become one of its most valuable assets and is now a leading player in the space. China Internet historians will recall that another Alibaba service, its Taobao online auctions marketplace, fought a fierce battle with eBay’s EachNet starting around 2005. That battle saw Taobao institute a strict no-fee policy that helped it rapidly steal share from EachNet, which at the time was the country’s dominant provider of online auction services, also known as consumer-to-consumer or C2C. EBay eventually conceded the battle, leaving the market to Alibaba which heavily trumpeted its victory in this battle. Ironically, Alibaba would go on to discover it had won the battle only to lose the war, as it could never find a way to earn very much money from its online auction business, which is now one of its smaller assets. After that battle, eBay and Alibaba actually had a brief friendly period where they joined forces, only to see eBay break off that relationship last year. (previous post) Unlike online auctions, which no longer generate much excitement among investors, e-payment services seem to be a safer long-term bet, as they can be used by anyone doing business on the Internet and generate steady revenue for providers in the form of transaction payments. AliPay clearly has an advantage in this market due to its longer operating history. But that said, PayPal has been active for years in the cross-border market between China and the rest of the world, and has the resources to wage a serious new war if it gets a license. Look for this newest battle to be quite colorful and interesting, with eBay quite possibly winning the second round of this ongoing rivalry with Alibaba.

Bottom line: A new war could shape up between Alibaba and eBay later this year in electronic payments, putting pressure on Alilbaba’s lucrative AliPay service.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Alibaba, eBay Lovefest Over as eBay Rethinks China 阿里巴巴和eBay的蜜月期结束

◙ E-Payments: Lots of Noise But Little Space

◙ Alibaba in Alipay Deal: Jack Ma Wins Again 支付宝股权纷争尘埃落定 马云公关赚钱两不误

News Digest: March 17-19, 2012 报摘： 2012年3月17-19日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 17-19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ EBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) PayPal Aims to Challenge Alibaba With China Payments (English article)

◙ Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Microblogging Users Ignore Real-Name Requirement (English article)

◙ UBS, StanChart Buy China Cinda Stake Ahead of IPO (English article)

◙ Vietnam Says CNOOC’s (HKEx: 883) South China Sea Bids Violate Territory (English article)

◙ SMIC (HKEx: 981; NYSE: SMI) Secures US$600 Million Syndicated Loan (HKEx announcement)

◙ Latest calendar for Q4 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

Noah Profits From China’s Wealthy 诺亚财富将与中国富人阶层金融服务市场一道成长

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After years of following the same tired old global banking names into and more recently out of China, it’s nice to suddenly see some refreshing new entries to this dynamic but also challenging financial services market. First there was an interesting tie-up last month that saw American Express (NYSE: AXP) investing in a Chinese mobile e-payments company called Lianlian (previous post), and now a US-listed wealth management specialist named Noah Holdings (NYSE: NOAH) says it has become one of the first companies in its category approved to distribute mutual funds to its Chinese clients under a new program by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, China’s securities regulator. Investors certainly liked the news, bidding up shares in Noah by 30 percent in Wednesday trade, as they welcomed the development as evidence that Noah is well positioned to become an important player in catering to China’s growing number of wealthy individuals, especially in its home base of Shanghai. Companies like Noah aren’t really in the same league as American Express, and with a market cap of just $450 million it is a tiny fraction of the size of big names like Citigroup (NYSE: C) and RBS (London: RBS), which once were quite bullish on China but more recently have been retreating from the market to focus on fixing their much bigger problems at home. But the growth of such smaller companies like Noah and Lianlian represents a potential interesting opportunity for investors, and  a trend for the future that could see smaller firms with foreign connections and expertise moving in to fill a vacuum left by the departure of the big foreign banks. These new smaller firms are already following in the footsteps of other niche oriented global players like eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) Paypal, which are also finding good business opportunities as China opens developing markets like e-payments. I honestly don’t know enough about Noah to comment beyond the fact that this latest development looks like a good one for the company, which is well positioned to profit from the growth in China’s wealth management market. Look for more such companies to emerge in the next few years, taking advantage of a maturing financial services market where many customers will be looking for more niche-player specialists as alternatives to the big-name banks and brokerages.

Bottom line: Wealth management specialist Noah Holdings represents a new generation of niche-oriented financial services firms that should see rapid growth over the next few years.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ AmEx Chases E-Payments With Lianlian Link 美国运通联手中国连连集团

◙ Banks to Lend More, But to Whom? 银行获准增加放贷 但流向选择有限

◙ Beijing’s Latest Mixed Signal Bodes Poorly for Banks 中央政府最新政策预示对银行不利

E-Payments: Lots of Noise But Little Space

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There’s been lots of noise in the electronic payments space lately, as China gets ready to issue its second round of licenses to domestic players (Chinese article) and accepts applications from foreign firms (Chinese article), with eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) PayPal most prominent among those applying. (English article) Into that mix we can also add this week’s news that Alipay, the e-payments arm of Alibaba Group, has purchased the China assets of OnCard Group International (Sydney: ONC), a small Australian firm that specializes in payments for plane tickets. In my view, all this noise is exactly that: lots of noise with little or no importance for the future. When you look at developed markets like the US or Europe, e-payments in both areas are dominated by credit card issuers Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA), which also own the top global electronic networks linking up many of the world’s banks. The only niche player that has come even close to competing with them is PayPal. So let’s translate that equation to China. In terms of Visa and MasterCard equivalents, the clear parallel is UnionPay, which operates a similar network and is backed by all of China’s top banks. (previous post) That means that MAYBE there is room for one or two more players at the most, meaning all these licenses now being awarded will ultimately be meaningless. PayPal would clearly like to take a similar position in China to its global position, and AliPay is certainly a leading candidate to become a major player, drawing on its tight connections to Alibaba.com (HKEx: 1688), China’s B2B commerce leader, and Taobao, a leading B2C site. AliPay’s acquisition of OnCard’s China assets looks interesting, until one looks further and sees that OnCard itself is a tiny company with a market cap of only $30 million. But regardless, look for nearly all of these new e-payment licenses to be business dead-ends, with only one or possibly two players surviving in a space that will ultimately be dominated by UnionPay and credit card issuers like Visa and MasterCard.

Bottom line: China’s electronic payments sector will ultimately be dominated by UnionPay and other credit card companies, leaving most other e-payments licensees bankrupt.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ New UnionPay Tie-Up Boosts US Presence in IPO Run-up 中国银联携手US Bancorp 未来有望两地上市

◙ 360Buy Cuts Off Alipay As China Internet Froth Builds 京东停用支付宝印证中国互联网泡沫

◙ Alibaba in Alipay Deal: Jack Ma Wins Again 支付宝股权纷争尘埃落定 马云公关赚钱两不误

News Digest: September 2, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

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◙ Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), Trina (NYSE: TSL), Suntech (NYSE: STP) to Attend German Solar Show

◙ Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Ex-China Head Kai-fu Lee Raises $180 Mln for Tech Fund (English article)

◙ Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Gets Glam with Three New Fashion-Forward Ultraportable Laptops (Businesswire)

◙ Paypal (Nasdaq: EBAY) China Applies for Third-Party Payment License (English article)

◙ Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) in Massive China Layoffs, Some Question Legality (Chinese article)