It seems quite appropriate that we’re ending 2013 with word of yet another acquisition and New York IPO plan in China’s Internet space by leading search site Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), capping a year that will go down as the most active for Chinese online M&A in the sector’s short but colorful history. It’s certainly appropriate that Baidu’s name is connected to both of these final news bits for the year, since the company and e-commerce leader Alibaba were the 2 most active drivers of this year’s M&A wave. Read Full Post…
Baidu reportedly near deal to buy Zongheng literature site
Internet stalwarts Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) are back in the M&A headlines with news of relatively small acquisitions, indicating the market may be running out of big targets as we prepare to end a landmark year for major deals in China. I’ve been reporting on Chinese Internet companies for more than a decade, and during most of that time would be lucky to see 1 or 2 major acquisitions or equity tie-ups in any single year. But all that changed this year, with top Internet names like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) emerging as major buyers in a series of deals collectively valued at billions of dollars. Read Full Post…
