The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Gets 2 Bln Yuan Bank Loan Infusion, Prepares to Reorganize (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Leads $800 Mln Funding for Augmented Reality Firm Magic Leap (Chinese article)
China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT) to Form China Time Share JV with Weshare (Chinese article)
China Media Capital Invests 100 Mln Yuan in Financial New Media Huaerjie Jianwen (Chinese article)
T-Mobile Supplier to Import Xiaomi, Meizu Smartphones (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Greater China Still Biggest Contributing Region as iPhone Sales Top Out (Chinese article)
China Cinda Said to Study Joining Yingli’s (NYSE: YGE) Debt Restructuring (English article)
Ericsson (NYSE: ERIC) Q4 Results Beat Expectations on China Rebound (Chinese article)
Qihoo (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Pledges 10 Pct Stake to Encourage Staff Entrepreneurship (English article)
TAL Education (NYSE: XRS) Announces Financial Results for Its Fiscal Q3 (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Wanda Buys Film Studio Legendary for $3.5 Bln (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Halts Commercial Tie-Ups in Disease Area of Tieba Social Service (Chinese article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Fake Ticket Scandal Exposes Gray Areas in Food Chain (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Sohu is likely to announce receipt of a formal buyout offer in the next few days, while the government in Yingli’s hometown of Baoding should seriously consider a similar buyout bid for the company.
Sohu gives mixed signals on buyout intentions
Amid the current privatization wave that is seeing dozens of Chinese companies launch plans to de-list their shares from New York, Internet industry stalwart Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) has announced its own offer that is leaving many people scratching their heads. After a day of looking for answers following Sohu’ss issue of its original announcement of plans for a $600 million investment, Chinese media are now reporting that the company has indeed received a privatization offer.
Meantime, fading solar panel maker Yingli (NYSE: YGE) is probably wishing it would receive its own privatization offer, as it piles up massive losses and its stock rapidly loses value. The company’s shares have been trading below the $1 level in New York since May, prompting the New York Stock Exchange to threaten de-listing for failing to meet its minimum price requirement. Now the company has just announced a reverse share split to bring its stock back above the $1 mark, sparking another sell-off in its shares. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: The large premium being offered in Trina Solar’s new buyout reflects a recent flood of private equity chasing privatization deals for US-listed Chinese firms, and could breathe new life into many previously announced bids that have become dormant.
Trina gets rich buyout offer
The homeward migration by US-listed Chinese firms has taken a turn into the new energy sector, with solar panel maker Trina (NYSE: TSL) becoming the first major player in the space to announce a management-led buyout offer. Throughout the current round of buyouts that has seen some 3 dozen US-listed Chinese companies announce privatization bids this year, few have come in the new energy sector that includes about a half dozen of China’s top solar panel makers listed in New York.
That’s not to say that New York has been a comfortable place for these companies. Most of the big names saw their shares soar in their first few years in New York, only to watch them tumble between 2011 and 2013 as panel prices plunged due to massive oversupply. That downturn saw the departure of 2 of the sector’s biggest names from Wall Street, though the exit of Suntech and LDK was prompted by bankruptcy rather than privatization. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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P2P Lending Operator Lufax Said to Seek $1 Bln at $15 Bln Value (English article)
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Jumps Most in 4 Years on Patent Deal With Xiaomi (English article)
Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) Plans First Asia-Pacific Data Center in Taiwan – Govt Official (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 762) in New Management Shuffle at Provincial Offices – Source (Chinese article)
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Reports Q3 Results (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Solar shares are likely to remain volatile over the next year, with current trends continuing that see Chinese companies open more offshore plants and stronger players steal share from weaker rivals.
Mixed signals from solar sector
After a brief rally to kick off the week on upbeat guidance from sector leader Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), Chinese solar stocks have quickly given back most of their gains on a more ominous signal from money-losing ReneSola (NYSE: SOL), which says its CFO has resigned after just over a year on the job.
Timing of the departure of Daniel Lee is somewhat coincidental, as it comes just a week after I met him and he detailed his strategy for keeping output stable and paying down debt. That strategy helped ReneSola to shrink its net loss to $2.3 million in the second quarter from a much larger $18 million in the first quarter. But that loss-cutting didn’t come without a price, as ReneSola’s solar module shipments also dropped by a third over that period. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: YIngli’s sudden repayment of 70 percent of a maturing bond shows the government may provide partial assistance for struggling solar panel makers, in an effort to engineer an orderly shut-down of these weaker companies.
Yingli makes surprise debt repayment
The story of China’s troubled solar panel sector has taken an unexpected twist, with word of a last-minute partial reprieve for Yingli (NYSE: YGE), one of the weakest major players that looked set to default on a large debt payment. The development came quite quickly and had a few unusual elements that hint strongly at government intervention.
Yingli’s case is important because it will show to what extent Beijing and local governments may come to the rescue of ailing companies from the solar panel sector. Earlier signals had indicated Beijing was prepared to let weaker companies fail or get acquired, providing a second round of much-needed consolidation for a sector plagued by overcapacity. But this latest sign shows Beijing and especially local governments may be losing some of that resolve as China’s economy slows. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: YIngli’s debt restructuring plan and ReneSola’s early debt repurchase will bring some confidence to solar shares, but pessimism will quickly return as their situations deteriorate without major signals of new government support.
Yingli delays debt repayment
Shares of Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) have taken investors on a wild ride these last few weeks, reflecting the alternating hopes and fears gripping 2 of the shakiest companies in a solar sector crippled by a downturn now entering its fourth year. If I were a betting man, I would say the chances are better than 80 percent that Yingli won’t survive the crisis, especially after the company’s latest announcement that it will miss a debt repayment deadline. Chances for ReneSola look slightly better, but even then I would only put the company’s likelihood of survival at 50-50.
One of the biggest questions fueling the uncertainty is whether Beijing and local governments will step in to rescue these companies. A year ago the answer would almost certainly have been “no”, reflecting China’s desire to clean up a bloated sector plagued with excess capacity. Recent signals show Beijing may still want to let the weakest players fail, but also that China’s slowing economy may be weakening that resolve. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 1-5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Brings Apple Music, iTunes Movies & iBooks to Customers in China (Businesswire)
Didi President Liu Qing Confirms Breast Cancer, Says Work Unaffected (Chinese article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) to Restructure Payments for Mid-Term Notes Due Oct 13 (English article)
Twentieth Century Fox Creates New China Managing Director Position (Businesswire)
Shuttle Bus App ‘Dada Bus‘ Wins 200 Mln Yuan Series B Funding (English article)
Bottom line: The bankruptcy of Tianwei signals Beijing will allow a new round of failures for weaker solar panel makers, with YIngli and ReneSola the most likely to come under pressure.
Future looks bleak for Tianwei
News that solar panel material maker Baoding Tianwei is on the brink of collapse has sent shudders through the entire sector, as everyone guesses who might be next to fall in a looming new clean-up of China’s bloated industry. Tianwei has been in trouble for a while now, after the company became the first state-run firm to ever default on a domestic bond interest payment back in April.
That development certainly didn’t bode well for Tianwei, but it remained unclear if the local government or Beijing would ultimately step in to bail out the company and save its investors. Now we finally have the answer to that question, following media reports that Tianwei and 3 of its business units are formally filing for bankruptcy. (English article; Chinese article) Read Full Post…
