Bottom line: Wal-Mart’s deepening alliance with JD.com looks like a smart pairing of leaders in traditional and online retailing, while a new e-commerce joint venture between Alibaba and Suning doesn’t appear to offer anything new.
Wal-Mart opens Sam’s Club on JD.com
Leading Chinese e-commerce operators Alibaba(NYSE: BABA) and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) are in a series of similar headlines, as each looks for growth opportunities by pairing with traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. Industry leader Alibaba has just announced a rather vague joint venture with leading electronics retailer Suning (Shenzhen: 002024), a year after the pair formed a major equity tie-up. Meantime, JD.com has announced that global retailing giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) will open 2 major stores on its e-commerce platform, as part of a growing alliance between the pair that also kicked off with a major equity tie-up 3 months ago. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on October 8-10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Lenovo (HKEx: 992) in Talks to Take Over Fujitsu’s PC Business: Source (English article)
NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) Media Arm Submits Draft Registration to SEC for US IPO (PRNewswire)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) Doubles Stake in JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Moving Further Into China (English article)
It’s Official: LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) Will Break US Boundaries on October 19 (English article)
Hollywood’s Digital Domain Takes Citic and SoftBank China as Strategic Investors (Businesswire)
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 9-11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Installment Plan E-tailer Qufenqi Raises 3 Bln Yuan in Pre-IPO Funding (English article)
Telefonica Raises $364 Mln from China Unicom (HKEx: 762) Share Sale: Sources (English article)
Striking Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) Workers in China Return to Work – For Now (English article)
China Logistics Said Poised to Price $433 Mln IPO at Top End (English article)
Bottom line: JD.com will quietly close Yihaodian after acquiring the online store from Walmart, and Amazon is the most likely next large player to withdraw from China’s e-commerce market in the next few years.
JD.com takes over Walmart’s Yihaodian
In what can only be described as a major surrender, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is selling its struggling online flagship Yihaodian in exchange for about $1.5 billion worth of shares in JD.com (Nasdaq: JD), China’s second largest e-commerce player. The development isn’t a complete surprise, since Yihaodian has struggled to compete with JD and industry titan Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) since Walmart purchased the company 4 years ago. The withdrawal also shines a spotlight on the very real fact that foreign companies often can’t compete on China’s Internet, and raises the question of whether Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) might be the next to abandon the complex market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on May 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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SF Express Eyes Backdoor Listing Using Dingtai Rare Earth (Shenzhen: 002352) (Chinese article)
Tencent-Backed China Music Corp Launches Process for NY IPO (Chinese article)
Coolpad (HKEx: 2369) Denies Report of Plan to be Acquired by LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) (Chinese article)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) China Sales Rise 5.1 Pct Y/Y in Q1 (English article)
Bottom line: McDonald’s plan to sell its wholly owned China stores to China Resources looks like a smart move that should help it achieve its aggressive new expansion plans in the market and broadly benefit both sides.
McDonald’s, China Resources eye tie-up
Leading consumer conglomerate China Resources looks like a company with an identity crisis these days, with word that it’s bidding to buy the China store operations of global fast food giant McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). Such a deal would be huge, since China is now home to more than 2,200 McDonald’s, and the US company recently announced plans to open another 1,000 restaurants in the market over the next 5 years.
It’s important to note that many of McDonald’s existing China restaurants are run by local franchising partners, and that a potential sale of its China stores to China Resources wouldn’t affect those outlets. McDonald’s uses a similar franchising model throughout most of the rest of the world. It originally owned and operated most of its China restaurants when it entered the country in the 1990s due to the newness of the market and lack of suitable partners. But it has said recently that it wants to move to a franchising model there as well. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Fresh food sellers Yiguo and FruitDay could see strong growth and go public in the next 2-3 years, banking on strong partnerships with Alibaba and JD.com and growing consumer willingness to buy groceries online.
Yiguo in big new funding
Fresh fruit and other grocery items are the latest hot ticket in China e-commerce, with 2 up-and-coming players receiving big new fundings of $100 million or more. The larger of the pair has e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and global private equity giant KKR helping online fresh food seller Yiguo raise about $260 million in new money. The other has an online fruit specialist called FruitDay, whose backers include Alibaba arch-rival JD.com (Nasdaq: JD), raising its own $100 million.
This particular trend is really a sub-trend of a broader movement by China’s e-commerce giants into the grocery business over the last few years, encroaching on traditional supermarkets and also Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian that found early success in the space. Even Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) China has gotten into the business, though many of these companies specialize in more traditional packaged foods rather than fresh products. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Visa (NYSE: V) Signs MOU with China UnionPay (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Q4 and Fiscal Year Results (PRNewswire)
China to Launch Commercial 5G Service in 2020 – MIIT (Chinese article)
NetEase Reports Q4 and Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Open 30 China Stores, Upgrade 60, Build up Cross-Border E-Commerce (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 20-22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Tops Foreign Buyers Drawing US M&A Security Reviews (English article)
Bottom line: Wal-Mart’s discussion of plans to open 115 new China stores and several new local initiatives look like mostly PR to show its commitment to the market, following its announcement of a major global overhaul earlier this month.
Wal-Mart discusses commitment to China
Just a week after announcing a major retrenchment for its global empire, retailing giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is saying it will continue to open new stores at a brisk pace in China. The vast and somewhat unique China market also looks set to become a testing ground for new concepts, with Wal-Mart discussing plans to open its first shopping center format and also to expand its cross-border e-commerce business in the country.
The latest developments are discussed in a local media interview with a top Wal-Mart China executive, which is probably timed to quash any potential buzz that the company is planning a similar retrenchment in China to the global plan announced earlier this month. That plan saw Wal-Mart announce it will close 269 stores this year, representing just over 2 percent of its global count of 11,600. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 23-25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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ZTE (HKEx: 763) Eye) 70 Mln Smartphone Sales in 2016, Up 25 Pct, Cautious On China (Chinese article)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Open First China Shopping Center, Eyes Cross-Border E-Commerce (Chinese article)
Used Car Auction Website Uxin Raises $400 Mln Series D Funding – Source (English article)
Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Workers Punished, 2 Fired for Related Party Transactions (Chinese article)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Pay to Launch in China in February – Bank Document (Chinese article)
