介绍:
Let's check out some of the key events on the corporate front in China this week.
Joining me on the line is Jeffrey Towson, Professor of Investment at Peking University Guanghua School of Management.
Story 1: This week Beijing-based hospital chain United Family Healthcare agreed to be purchased after a bidding war erupted between some of the China's leading private equity firms. The winning bid of $461M came from Fosun and TPG.
Questions about Story 1:
(1). Professor Towson, this is one of Beijing's most well-known hospitals, publically traded in New York. Was this bidding war surprising? And why such interest in Chinese hospitals, especially by groups such as Fosun and TPG?
(2). Is Chinese healthcare a growth industry? Certainly the government has made modernizing the healthcare system a priority in the past several years. But do we expect private hospitals to become widely used?
Story 2: China's state media regulator says it will revoke Sina's licenses to publish newspapers, magazines, books, audio and video online as punishment for lewd content on its sites. IT has also said it is imposing "a large number of fines" and initiating criminal investigations. This news follows just 2 weeks after Weibo, owned by Sina, had a somewhat difficult IPO in the USA.
Questions about Story 2:
(1). Professor Towson, how serious is all this for Sina? Does the license revocation have a big impact on their business?
(2).What happened with the Weibo IPO in the USA? They filed to raise $500M on the Nasdaq and valuations of $5-7 billion were discussed. But the IPO ended up raising only about $290M. What happened?
Story 3: Alibaba and Yunfeng Capital have bought 1.2 billion US dollars' worth of Chinese online video service Youku-Tudou. The deal gives Alibaba a 16.5% stake in one of the largest online video platforms. Yunfeng holds 2%.
Questions about Story 3:
(1). So, is this similar to the other Alibaba and Tencent deals we have been seeing over the past weeks? What is the rationale for this fairly large acquisition?
Story 4: Final story. Disney has just announced that they and their partners are investing another $800M into the Shanghai Disneyland under construction. That will bring the total projected spending to $5.5 billion – with the park set to finally open next year.
Questions about Story 4:
(1). So, last question. Is this going to be a success? Is China's mainland ready for a full Disneyland?
