| Mon, Jun 08, 2009 |
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Chinese M&A: Shanda Offers To Buy Out Digital Content Firm Hurray; Third Time Lucky?
Will third time be luck for the Chinese digital media entertainment provider Hurray? After failing at two previous attempts to be bought, the Nasdaq-traded company has received a new offer from Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the online gaming biggie in China, for a majority stake. Under the proposal, Shanda will commence a tender offer to acquire 51 percent, at $4.00 per ADS, which means a total deal value of about $46.2 million. The offer represents an approximately 25 percent premium over Hurray’s closing price on June 5. This offer matches on made by another investor group earlier this year, but that offer was pulled in May; the company board didn’t like the offer, and the investor group was griping about lack of transparency by the company. As WSJ points out, this has been one of the rare public takeover fights in China, mainly due to lack of wide-enough shareholder base. The new offer from Shanda has the approval of Hurray’s board. The deal is subject to completion of the tender offer for the 51 percent of shares, and other customary conditions.
Hurray started out as a mobile content firm selling ringtones and other services, but with the well documented trouble with Chinese regulatory bodies, it diversified over the years into other related activities like artist development, music production and distribution and organizing concert and other music events. It received a merger offer in 2007 with TV production firm Enlight, in a $160 million deal, but later pulled out to differences over the deal structure. More details in release.
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paidContent.org
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Chinese M&A: Shanda Offers To Buy Out Digital Content Firm Hurray; Third Time Lucky?
Will third time be luck for the Chinese digital media entertainment provider Hurray? After failing at two previous attempts to be bought, the Nasdaq-traded company has received a new offer from Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the online gaming biggie in China, for a majority stake. Under the proposal, Shanda will commence a tender offer to acquire 51 percent, at $4.00 per ADS, which means a total deal value of about $46.2 million. The offer represents an approximately 25 percent premium over Hurray’s closing price on June 5. This offer matches on made by another investor group earlier this year, but that offer was pulled in May; the company board didn’t like the offer, and the investor group was griping about lack of transparency by the company. As WSJ points out, this has been one of the rare public takeover fights in China, mainly due to lack of wide-enough shareholder base. The new offer from Shanda has the approval of Hurray’s board. The deal is subject to completion of the tender offer for the 51 percent of shares, and other customary conditions.
Hurray started out as a mobile content firm selling ringtones and other services, but with the well documented trouble with Chinese regulatory bodies, it diversified over the years into other related activities like artist development, music production and distribution and organizing concert and other music events. It received a merger offer in 2007 with TV production firm Enlight, in a $160 million deal, but later pulled out to differences over the deal structure. More details in release.
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| Mon, Mar 30, 2009 |
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Changyou Will Test U.S. Appetite For Chinese-Gaming IPOs
Sohu.com’s gaming subsidiary, Changyou, is scheduled to be split from its parent company when it goes public this week in a bid to raise about $100 million. peHUB reports the IPO is an important litmus test of interest in Chinese gaming companies among U.S. investors. The last two Chinese gaming companies to go public, China Mass Media International Advertising (CMM.P) and China Distance Education Holdings (DL.P), in the U.S., have had lackluster results; both went public almost a year ago, and are now trading below their IPO prices.
In an announcement a couple of weeks ago, Sohu.com (NSDQ: SOHU) said it would sell about 7.5 million shares of Class A stock in Changyou at an average price of $14 to $16. Class A shares receive one vote per share on corporate matters, while Class B shares, owned entirely by Sohu.com, receive 10 votes. The stock will be listed on Nasdaq.
Other Chinese gaming companies trading on U.S. exchanges have performed well this year, with Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA) (GA.N), Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NSDQ: SNDA) (SNDA.O) and NetEase.com (NTES.O) all up between 6 percent and 22 percent. Still, analysts say the prospects for Changyou’s listing are dampened by the lack of transparency on financial reporting among Chinese companies and the fact that the company receives the lion’s share of its revenue from one game at a time when many are questioning the wisdom of “hit-driven” business models.
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paidContent.org
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Changyou Will Test U.S. Appetite For Chinese-Gaming IPOs
Sohu.com’s gaming subsidiary, Changyou, is scheduled to be split from its parent company when it goes public this week in a bid to raise about $100 million. peHUB reports the IPO is an important litmus test of interest in Chinese gaming companies among U.S. investors. The last two Chinese gaming companies to go public, China Mass Media International Advertising (CMM.P) and China Distance Education Holdings (DL.P), in the U.S., have had lackluster results; both went public almost a year ago, and are now trading below their IPO prices.
In an announcement a couple of weeks ago, Sohu.com (NSDQ: SOHU) said it would sell about 7.5 million shares of Class A stock in Changyou at an average price of $14 to $16. Class A shares receive one vote per share on corporate matters, while Class B shares, owned entirely by Sohu.com, receive 10 votes. The stock will be listed on Nasdaq.
Other Chinese gaming companies trading on U.S. exchanges have performed well this year, with Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA) (GA.N), Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NSDQ: SNDA) (SNDA.O) and NetEase.com (NTES.O) all up between 6 percent and 22 percent. Still, analysts say the prospects for Changyou’s listing are dampened by the lack of transparency on financial reporting among Chinese companies and the fact that the company receives the lion’s share of its revenue from one game at a time when many are questioning the wisdom of “hit-driven” business models.
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| Tue, Dec 02, 2008 |
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EA Buys Korean Online Game Developer J2M; Shanda Invests In Two Chinese Gaming Firms
Three gaming related deals in Asia:
-- Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) has increased its presence in Korea, after buying the mobile gaming arm of Hands-On earlier this year: it has now bought J2MSoft, a Korean developer of PC and online games. J2M develops free-to-play online games that are monetized through micro-transactions and ads, including RayCity, TAAN, and Debut. EA plans to use J2M developers for developing games for Asian markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and while valuations are not yet complete, EA does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial results in fiscal 2009. More details in release.
-- And in China, Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the big online gaming portal, has made two investments: it has invested undisclosed amounts in two online gaming community operators, Shanghai Wei Lai and Shanghai Cai Qu. Shanghai Wei Lai offers titles such as “Travian” and “OGAME,” while Shanghai Cai Qu offers the casual game title “Ge Zi Ke.” More details in release.
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