Bottom line: Giant Interactive’s new bids for Caesars Entertainment online game unit and Supercell show it has lots of cash for global acquisitions, which it hopes to use to vault it into the big leagues of Chinese online game companies.
Giant chases global acquisitions
Online gaming company Giant Interactive may be mostly a memory for US investors, following its de-listing from New York in 2014. But the company wants the world to know it still has global aspirations. That’s my interpretation of the latest series of reports, which have Giant pursuing several major global acquisitions in Finland, Israel and the US.
Two of the reports appear to be related, and say Giant is in talks to buy the online game unit of US gambling giant Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR), which includes Israeli game developer Playtika. One of the reports adds that Giant is also in talks to potentially join a group led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has agreed to buy a controlling stake of Finnish game giant Supercell. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Complaints of problems from a major solar plant builder reflect the difficulty of new construction in China, and could wreak havoc on the sales and finances of panel makers and their construction partners.
Solar entrepreneur Shi complains of bureaucracy
Two solar energy news items are showing both the attraction and also the frustration that developers are feeling as they try to build new clean-energy power plants to help China wean itself from its dependence on fossil fuels. On the attraction side of the story, the industry has just won a major new backer in the form of insurance giant Ping An (HKEx: 2318; Shanghai: 601318), which is teaming up with panel maker Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) in a new plant-building initiative.
But the frustrations that many plant builders are feeling were on prominent display in a separate report that cited another major developer complaining of the difficulties of new construction. Those kinds of complaints aren’t really new, and are being caused by provincial government interference and other local issues in the many remote locations where new plants are being built. Read Full Post…
Two major news events were at the center of the microblogging realm this past week, as tech executives from across the spectrum commented on the blockbuster IPO for Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and the debut of latest iPhone from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Executives were generally full of praise for the Alibaba IPO, which shattered numerous records when the stock began trading last Friday in New York. But there were also some hints of jealousy, as top executives from fast-fading e-commerce rival Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and security software maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) suffered from valuation envy.
Meantime, domestic smartphone makers Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) took advantage of the iPhone’s formal launch last Friday to tout their own products, which are far cheaper and enjoy a reputation for reasonable quality. But unlike the iPhone, Huawei and ZTE still suffer from the “Made in China” stigma, and don’t command anything near the level of respect and buzz that the iPhone gets. Read Full Post…
An interesting new player may soon be coming to China’s crowded and highly fragmented private equity scene, with word that a major company has been set up by a group of leading entrepreneurs in Beijing and Shanghai. The company has a hefty 50 billion yuan in investment, equating to $8 billion. The player would be an important addition to China’s fast emerging field of major private equity firms, most of which are headed by entrepreneurial chiefs who are increasingly looking abroad for good investments. Read Full Post…
China Internet titans should consider stepping down
Web portal Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) was in the headlines last week as founder and longtime chief executive Charles Zhang discussed a major restructuring for one of China’s oldest Internet companies to ensure its long-term survival. (Chinese article) His disclosure put Sohu alongside most of China’s other major Internet companies in announcing such plans, as each seeks to chart a new course in a rapidly changing environment. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Jack Ma, Shi Yuzhu Invest 6.5 Bln Yuan In Wasu Media (Shenzhen: 000156) (Chinese article)
China Approves InBev (NYSE: BUD) Purchase Of Siping Ginsber (Chinese article)
Imax (NYSE: IMAX) Sells 20 Pct Of China Business To 2 Partners (Chinese article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) VNO Partners Start To Apply For Licenses (Chinese article)
iKang Healthcare (Nasdaq: KANG) Prices IPO At $14, The High End Of Range (English article)
The microblog realm has been buzzing loudly this final week of 2013 with stories that are likely to be major themes in the new year, led by a probable IPO by Jingdong, China’s second largest e-commerce firm. Meantime, e-commerce leader Alibaba was showing no signs of slowing down the endless promotion of its recently launched mobile instant messaging (IM) service Laiwang, as it tries to catch up with Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) hugely popular WeChat rival service. Lastly, tweets coming from top e-commerce firms Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) hint that 2014 could see the start of consolidation in the booming but also fiercely competitive parcel delivery sector, perhaps including a few major acquisitions and closures and a long-awaited domestic IPO for China Postal Express, the parcel delivery unit of China’s Post Office. (previous post) Read Full Post…
These last few months have seen an interesting friendship chronicled online between 3 major Internet figures, with the top executives from leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), e-commerce leader Alibaba and online game operator Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) spending increasing time together. The camaraderie between Alibaba founder and Chairman Jack Ma, Sina CEO and Chairman Charles Chao and Giant Chairman Shi Yuzhu has been chronicled on Sina’s Weibo microblogging service, where the 3 have been seen engaging in an array of activities that often look more like hobbies than the businesses each has become famous for leading. Read Full Post…
