Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) fever has finally peaked, as shares of the e-commerce leader and its 2 major proxies took a needed breather after a turbo-charged IPO that made it China’s most valuable Internet firm. As a final footnote, the company also made the widely expected announcement that its underwriters exercised their rights to buy additional shares in the offering, officially making it the biggest IPO of all time. But the looming question for now is whether the sell-off on the second day of trading is short-term or the start of a much-needed correction. Regular readers will know my forecast is that the stock is set for turbulent trading over its first month or two, before it moves steadily downward over the next year to levels closer to its IPO price. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 16. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba Said Likely To Sell More IPO Stock As Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) Retreats (English article)
China Construction Bank (HKEx: 939) Registers New Zealand Subsidiary (English article)
China Awards 5th Batch Of E-Payment Licenses, Including First For Foreign Firm (Chinese article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Announces First Factory In Brazil (Businesswire)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Criticized For High-Fee Refund Policy (Chinese article)
Two of the world’s biggest social networking service (SNS) operators are in the headlines as the new week begins, starting with word that Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is moving ahead with its plans to open in China. Meantime, separate reports are saying Japanese-based mobile instant messaging service Line has been disrupted in China, perhaps for carrying sensitive content.
These news bits may look different on the surface, but they’re really quite similar in broader terms. China is extremely wary of offshore-based SNS like Facebook, Line and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), because they are not subject to the country’s strict self-censorship laws. Thus companies that want to develop a China business must open offices and host their Chinese services on local servers to placate Beijing, which is what Facebook and Line are doing now. Read Full Post…
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve written a post exclusively about leading e-commerce company Alibaba, so I thought I’d end the week with a round-up of a few company news bits including its selection of the New York Stock Exchange for its highly-anticipated IPO. In related news, the company’s major shareholder Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) is reportedly in talks to reduce its planned sale of Alibaba shares in the offering. Last but not least, Alibaba has formally added its name to one of its latest acquisitions, a stake in one of China’s leading soccer clubs. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) has just announced a major purchase involving a Korean game maker, in what would normally be leading news on the Chinese Internet. But instead, the company is making bigger headlines on talk that it’s nearing a deal to buy 20 percent of leading online video firm Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) for a smaller amount. The 2 deals collectively would be worth about $1 billion, which these days doesn’t seem like big news anymore for China’s rapidly consolidating Internet. Read Full Post…
All my previous predictions that e-commerce leader Alibaba would ultimately make its mega IPO in Hong Kong were wrong, with word that the company is now firmly fixed on New York for its highly anticipated share sale. In my defense, I should say that a huge surge in positive sentiment over the last 5 months towards China Internet stocks on Wall Street undoubtedly helped to change Alibaba’s mind. The company had previously stated on numerous occasions that Hong Kong was the preferred venue for its blockbuster IPO, which reports are now saying could raise up to $15 billion, making it the world’s biggest Internet offering since Facebook (Nasdaq; FB) raised $16 billion in 2012. Read Full Post…
Anti-monopoly regulator may need to brandish veto stamp
After years of fragmentation, China’s Internet has undergone a sudden and radical overhaul over the past year, with 3 major firms emerging as major consolidators. The frenzy of new tie-ups and acquisitions has been a welcome development, helping to cool overheated competition in a wide array of sectors where most companies were losing money.
But with the emergence of Alibaba, Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) as the 3 major consolidators, China’s anti-monopoly regulator should start to give closer scrutiny to future deals to avoid too much reduction in the competition necessary to ensure future innovation and consumer choice. Such scrutiny could and should ultimately lead to the veto of some future deals, especially larger ones, by regulators who need to become more assertive in the space. Read Full Post…
Autohome founder Li Xiang remembers childhood accident
In this final edition of my weekly microblog column from the Year of the Snake, I thought I’d step back from all the promotional hype I usually write about and look at the more ordinary and often revealing moments from some of China’s top tech executives. This week we look at some of the quieter and more everyday thoughts from top officials at newly listed Autohome (NYSE: ATHM), educational services firm New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) and professional networking site LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD). Such personal moments not only offer insight to some of these top executives and how they think, but also seem like an appropriate way to end the lunar year as everyone heads home for family reunions. Read Full Post…
Online professional networking leader LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) took a big step towards entering the lucrative but tricky China market last week when it created a new China chief position and filled it with an industry veteran as it explores a formal service launch. The move was just the latest in the company’s slow and careful approach to China, and could boost its chances of success in a market that has proven difficult for other global giants like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). Read Full Post…
Alibaba may have lost its affection for Hong Kong’s securities regulator after an impasse over its IPO plans, but it appears to be moving in a happier direction these days with US Internet giant Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO). That’s my assessment, following word that Yahoo will hold onto a larger share of China’s e-commerce leader than the 2 sides had previously agreed to last year when they reached a landmark deal to end their 7-year-old stormy marriage. That leads me to my longer-term forecast that perhaps we could see this pair remain united for the next few years in a strategic alliance, which could even see Alibaba acquire its own strategic stake in Yahoo at some point in the not-too-distant future. Read Full Post…
