Less than 2 weeks after buying a major stake in leading Chinese microblogging site Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo, e-commerce leader Alibaba is back on the acquisition track with word that it’s on the cusp of another deal to buy a similar strategic stake in mapping services firm AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP). While this newest deal would be a bit smaller than the Weibo tie-up, it marks the latest transaction in a nascent M&A wave among China tech firms that looks set to gain momentum during the rest of the year. Read Full Post…
The ongoing game of musical chairs in China’s online search space is continuing this week with word that Internet portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) wants to sell its Sogou unit, operator of China’s third largest search engine. While many of the previous rumors of consolidation in the search space have looked dubious to me, this one actually looks like it could be credible for a number of reasons I’ll detail shortly. If it’s true, I would also commend Sohu for making a shrewd move by getting out of a crowded market where it has limited resources and expertise compared with other players. Read Full Post…
Having let the markets get pumped up with huge expectations for its upcoming mega IPO, e-commerce leader Alibaba now appears to be trying to temper some of those high hopes in the run-up to an offering that is likely to be the biggest ever for a Chinese Internet firm. The reason for the sudden change of tone? Apparently the company wants to avoid following in the footsteps of social networking giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), whose IPO was so overhyped by the time it finally occurred that it was almost bound to result in failure and major disappointment. Read Full Post…
Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) colorful but low-key Chairman Pony Ma is suddenly losing his shyness at a major Internet conference in Beijing, where he is clearly in his preferred environment mixing with lots of other Internet geeks and techies. Media have been buzzing these last few days with words from the head of China’s biggest Internet firm, with much of the talk centered on Tencent’s hot mobile instant messaging platform called WeChat or Weixin in Chinese. Ma has addressed 2 of the key questions facing WeChat, both centered on how the service can generate profits for Tencent from its base of 300 million users. Read Full Post…
Last month’s New York IPO filing by online retailer LightInTheBox has many predicting a new stream of Chinese listings could soon hit the market, prompting many to guess who might be next. One of the leading candidates for a near-term New York offering was Cloudary, the literature unit of online entertainment firm Shanda, though that prospect is dimming with each passing day due to recent turmoil at the company. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Games Will Be Breakthrough Area For Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat – Ma (Chinese article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Online Video Business of PPS for US $370 Mln (PRNewswire)
Ex-Qidian Team to Provide Content for Tencent (HKEx: 700) Book Channel (English article)
Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) Changes China Head For 4th Time In 3 Years (Chinese article)
Alibaba Posts Q4 Profit Of $640 Mln, Up 172 Pct (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 4-6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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EU To Propose Punitive Duties On Chinese Solar Panels (English article)
Note: Since originally writing this post, Sina and Alibaba have formally announced their tie-up. (company announcement) Under the deal, Alibaba has purchased 18 percent of Sina Weibo for $586 million, valuing Weibo at about $3.3 billion. The pair said they expect the alliance to generate $380 million in revenue for Weibo over the next 3 years. Sina shares jumped nearly 10 percent after the news came out.
Weibo, Alibaba in new tie-up
It looks like I may have been premature in declaring last month that talks for a tie-up between leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and e-commerce leader Alibaba were dead. According to the latest reports, the pair have resuscitated their negotiations that began late last year and later collapsed due to disagreement over a valuation for Sina’s popular Weibo microblogging platform. Now media are reporting the talks have quietly resumed in recent weeks, and a deal could be announced very soon. (English article; Chinese article) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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In what looks like a major development in the ongoing feud between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) over the latter’s popular WeChat service, China’s telecoms regulator has said it will no longer play the role of mediator in the issue and instead will let the market resolve the matter. I have to commend the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology (MIIT) for its decision, as I’ve previously said a regulator’s job is to maintain order in the industry and not to get involved in commercial disputes. This interesting turn of events could also signal that China Mobile itself may be preparing to back down in this case, following widespread criticism that it’s trying to blame others like Tencent for its own lackluster performance. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei Lowers Long-Term Target For Enterprise Sales (English article)
Taiwan Investigates Taobao for Tax Evasion (English article)
MIIT: Market To Decide If Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat Charges Fees (Chinese article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Signs $165 Mln Loan With China Dev Bank (PRNewswire)
Columbia Pacific, China Partner To Develop Senior Living Projects (Businesswire)
