Bottom line: Alibaba’s technical glitch at Alipay, the launch of its new bank and use of its Taobao platform to auction of bad loans reflect its growing clout in financial services, as it attempts to build up its Ant Financial unit for a future IPO.
Technical glitch interrupts Alipay
E-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is in a trio of finance-related headlines, spotlighting its growing bet on financial services that could be a huge growth area as Beijing opens the sector to private investment. One headline has seen Alibaba get official permission from its home province to open a bank, after it became one of the first 3 entities to receive private banking licenses under a pilot program by Beijing.
The second headline has seen the company’s popular Alipay electronic payments service experience technical problems that cut off access for 2 hours earlier this week, prompting it to quickly say that no accounts were compromised. The final news bit comes in a larger story about China’s growing bad asset crisis, which will see the nation’s top bad asset management company use Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace to auction off some of those assets. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s Ninebot most likely purchased Segway for less than $100 million to get its technology, and could make a New York IPO by 2017 that will value the firm at $2-$5 billion.
Ninebot buys Segway
If you can’t beat ’em, then buy ’em. That seems to be the philosophy at a Chinese firm called Ninebot, which has just announced it has purchased US rival Segway, maker of a trendy type of 2 wheel, stand up vehicle used to travel short distances. The pair of companies previously had a stormy relationship, as Segway had accused Ninebot of intellectual property theft. So this new purchase should formally end the copycat allegations. Read Full Post…
Lenovo’s IBM, Motorola buys come under the microscope
A month after word first emerged that Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) mega-deal to buy IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business was running into political headwinds, Lenovo is coming out and directly saying it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. Some of my sources near IBM are giving a similar message, even after a top Lenovo executive said last month that the ongoing cybersecurity spat between Beijing and Washington could derail the deal. Lenovo is also saying it expects to close its separate purchase of Motorola Mobility in the same time frame, marking the first time I’ve ever seen anyone imply that the purchase of that company from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) might face any political headwinds. Read Full Post…
Let’s end the week with a couple of new energy developments, led by word that China and the European Union could be heading for a new showdown after the pair narrowly avoided a trade war last year over dumping accusations towards Chinese solar panels. The news looks quite disappointing and bodes poorly for the broader solar sector, where protectionist forces have been rapidly building in the last few months. On a more positive note, Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang has just announced a new battery joint venture with Japan’s NEC (Tokyo: 6701), which looks full of potential to help solve one of the biggest problems for clean energy producers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba In Low-Profile US Tmall Launch, Eyes Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) (Chinese article)
Zhaopin (NYSE: ZPIN) Climbs 8.5 Pct In US Trading Debut (Chinese article)
BMW (Frankfurt: BMW) Places 800 Mln Yuan Auto Loan ABS In China (English article)
Wanxiang,NEC (HKEx: 6701) Form JV For Grid Energy Storage in China (Businesswire)
The Internet world is buzzing today with word that Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700), China’s 2 dominant Internet firms, are among the first group of 10 companies to receive banking licenses as Beijing opens the sector to private competition. From a macro-economic perspective, the move is certainly a welcome one for China and should provide some much-needed competition for the nation’s stodgy state-run lenders that now control the sector.
But from an individual company perspective, I really can’t see how traditional banking fits into either Tencent’s or Alibaba’s core Internet business, and worry a bit that this new initiative could ultimately distract these companies from their main focuses. I do expect that Tencent may ultimately follow its recent strategy of spinning off businesses and move its bank into a separate company, which looks like the right move. Alibaba would be well advised to do the same, though founder Jack Ma has shown a tendency for wanting to keep all his companies under one roof. Read Full Post…
Chinese car makers are fueling a new global buying binge of clean-energy assets, with the latest word that privately owned Geely Automobile (HKEx: 175) is buying a British electric car startup. Geely’s deal comes just weeks after China’s Wanxiang Group completed its second major acquisition of a clean energy firm in the US, hinting at a growing wave of global M&A by tech-hungry Chinese car makers. This flurry of deals also comes as China’s leading electric vehicle (EV) maker, BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594), spotlights new government data that showcases its own technology development prowess. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba to Increase Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Microblog Stake To 30-50 Pct – Source (English article)
Samsung (Seoul: 005930) Leads Smartphone Sellers In China In Q4 – IDC (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 15-17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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US To Pursue Trade Dispute Over Chinese, Taiwanese Solar Imports (English article)
China’s Wanxiang Wins US Bankruptcy Auction For Fisker Automotive (English article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Acquires Controlling Interest In Lefeng For $133 Mln (PRNewswire)
Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) Guangdiantong Unveils WeChat Public Account Ad Product (English article)
Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Sets Up Transport Services Headquarters (Chinese article)
After logging another strong year in 2013, outbound acquisitions by Chinese firms are getting off to another strong start in the New Year with 3 major new deals in the headlines last week. These latest deals reflect a broad range of targets, both in terms of industries and company health, in a welcome relief from an old pattern that saw Chinese companies often chase sickly, troubled western firms. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 11-13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Fosun (HKEx: 656) Picked To Buy Portugal Insurer In Privatization (English article)
VNO Users To Reach 50 Mln In 2015 – Regulator (English article)
US Judge Opens Way For China’s Wanxiang Bid For Fisker (English article)
Xiaomi To Roll Out Super Low-Cost 300 Yuan Smartphone In 2014 – Report (Chinese article)
