DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ China's champion gymnast Li Ning considers taking company private, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Li Ning, chairman and co-chief executive officer of Li Ning Co., during a news conference in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, March 17, 2023. Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and Olympic champion Li Ning is considering taking his namesake sportswear company private from the Hong Kong stock exchange, four people said, adding to a string of such potential deals in a faltering market. Li, 61, founded Li Ning Co a few years after retiring from a decorated gymnastics career in 1988. The discussions to take Li Ning Co private are in the early stages and details have not been finalized, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the information was confidential. Li Ning made its Hong Kong debut in 2004.

Persons: Li Ning, Li Organizations: Hong, Li Ning Co Ltd, HK, TPG, Hillhouse Investment, Hong Kong, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, China, Hong

☆ China’s VC playbook is undergoing a sea change as U.S. IPO exits get tougher
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That's far less than in the previous years — the share of U.S. dollars in total VC funds raised was around 15% for the years 2018 to 2021, the data showed. China investments, China exitsWashington and Beijing in 2022 resolved a long-standing audit dispute that reduced the risk of Chinese companies having to delist from U.S. stock exchanges. "With U.S. IPOs no longer being a viable exit strategy for China assets, investors should target local exits in their respective capital markets—in other words, China exits for China assets, and U.S. exits for overseas assets," Liao said. The 20 largest VC deals for China-headquartered companies in 2013 were predominantly in e-commerce and software services, according to PitchBook data. ... the venture capital scene has become even more state-concentrated and focused on government priorities.

Persons: China’s renminbi, Athit Perawongmetha, Kyle Stanford, China —, Liao Ming, Stocks, Liao, Didi, Beijing's, Camille Boullenois Organizations: Reuters, Reuters BEIJING — Venture, Liao Ming, U.S, Sequoia, Prospect, Capital, New York Stock Exchange Locations: U.S, Bangkok, Thailand, Reuters BEIJING, China, Sequoia, Washington, India, Japan, Greater China, Beijing, New York, Hong Kong, U.S . Washington

☆ China's LONGi jumps on probe into Hillhouse unit's stake transfer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of the solar energy firm rose nearly 5% in morning trade after it said HHLR Management Pte. Ltd was being investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for violating share transfer rules. Singapore-based HHLR Management is part of Chinese investment giant Hillhouse's public investment arm HHLR. HHLR Management was notified by the CSRC of the investigation on suspected rule violations on Wednesday, LONGi said, without giving details. HHLR Management held a 4.98% stake in LONGi at the end of September, compared with 5.85% at the end of 2022, according to filings.

Persons: Hillhouse, LONGi, Zhang Lei, didn't, Samuel Shen, Varun Organizations: Green Energy Technology, Management, China Securities Regulatory Commission, HHLR Management, Reuters, Pionner Driving, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, Singapore, Nanjing, LONGi, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Summer, Hong Kong

☆ Global asset managers talk up China as long-term bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Top executives at global asset managers on Wednesday talked up China at an event in Hong Kong on Wednesday, championing long-term investment opportunities in an economy battling to break free of pandemic disruption. "Long term, (China) has to be part of a global investment portfolio." Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao called China a driver of growth and innovation and said it was "baffling" to think otherwise. He also said Citadel doubled its Hong Kong headcount in the face of pandemic-induced challenges, leveraging the talent the city hosts and its connectivity to other markets. Quinn told the Hong Kong event on Tuesday that wealth flow from mainland China to Hong Kong has grown 3 to 4 times this year.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mark Wiedman, Wiedman, Mike Gitlin, Lei Zhang, Anne Richards, Invesco, Andrew Schlossberg, Peng Zhao, Zhang Yichen, Noel Quinn, Quinn, Kane Wu, Xie Yu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: REUTERS, West, Global Financial, Investment Summit, European Chamber of Commerce, Capital, Fidelity International, Citadel Securities, Citadel, Trustar, HSBC Group, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Hong Kong, West, Singapore

☆ Chinese AI-related firm Zhipu says it has raised over $341.8 mln this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand miniature in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence-related firm Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology said on Friday it has raised over 2.5 billion yuan ($341.82 million) this year. Investors have included Chinese tech giants Alibaba (9988.HK), Tencent (0700.HK), Meituan (3690.HK), Xiaomi (1810.HK), as well as Hillhouse and Legend Capital, Zhipu said. ($1 = 7.3137 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Zhipu, Muralikumar Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Technology, Investors, HK, Legend, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Rights BEIJING, Beijing

☆ Alibaba, Tencent among investors in China's rival to OpenAI with $341 million funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Zhipu has raised more than 2.5 billion Chinese yuan ($341 million) this year, the company said in a statement. Sequoia and Hillhouse are among the high-profile venture backers, and smartphone maker Xiaomi, Alibaba and Tencent are some of the corporate investors. Zhipu is one of China's promising start-ups creating AI models trained on huge amounts of data that can underpin various applications. The world's second-largest economy plans to increase its computing power by 50% by 2025, which would help continue to develop AI applications. However, the U.S. has looked to cut China off from key technologies required to develop AI models.

Persons: Zhipu, China's, OpenAI, ChatGPT Organizations: Getty, Zhipu, U.S, Nvidia Locations: U.S, China, Washington

☆ China VCs have a big problem — and it’s not just a drop in U.S. investor appetite
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Among China-focused investment firms, only four U.S. dollar-denominated venture capital funds established between 2015 and 2020 have at least returned investors all the money they put in. Alternative assets include venture capital, but not publicly traded stocks and bonds. Preqin doesn't track every single China VC fund, and only included those with data as of the end of last year or more recently. In the world of early-stage investing, "limited partners" (typically institutions) give money to "general partners" (venture capital funds) to invest into startups. The outperforming funds were: Loyal Valley Capital Advantage Fund I, Hillhouse Fund II, Oceanpine USD Fund I and HighLight Capital USD Fund II.

Persons: Preqin, —, Reuben Lai, “, Reuben Lai Preqin, they'd, Alex Shum, Preqin's Lai, there's, Lai, Jinjian Zhang, Vitalbridge, Zhang Organizations: Nurphoto, Getty, ., China VC, CNBC, Fengshion, Investment Fund, LYFE Capital, GGV, BioTrack, U.S, Capital, II, Sequoia, Sequoia Capital China Growth Fund, TPG NewQuest Locations: Shenzhen, China, BEIJING, That's, Preqin, Greater China, Beijing, IPOs, Vitalbridge, Shanghai

☆ McLaren Applied's Lavoie buys bankrupt Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Nick Carey Tosterling | Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The logo of e-bike maker VanMoof is seen on a bicycle in Amsterdam, Netherlands August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/AMSTERDAM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Lavoie, the electric scooter unit of Formula One engineering and technology firm McLaren Applied, said on Thursday it has agreed to buy bankrupt premium Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof and will invest to stabilize and expand its business. Fry said McLaren Applied - bought from McLaren Group by private equity firm Greybull Capital in 2021 - would retain VanMoof's departmental managers and would "engage and retain or rehire some of the great people" the Dutch e-bike maker employed. VanMoof had also struggled with quality problems, which McLaren Applied's Fry said had hurt sales. McLaren Applied recently launched the premium Lavoie e-scooter brand.

Persons: de Wouw, Lavoie, Nick Fry, Fry, Jan Padberg, Robin de Wit, McLaren, VanMoof, McLaren Applied's Fry, Nick Carey, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Formula, McLaren, Reuters, VanMoof, McLaren Group, Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Nasdaq, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Netherlands, AMSTERDAM, Silicon

☆ McLaren Applied's Lavoie in talks to buy Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Nick Carey Tosterling | Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Lavoie, the electric scooter unit of Formula One engineering and technology firm McLaren Applied, is in advanced talks to buy bankrupt Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The source said talks are at "quite an advanced stage" and would involve Lavoie taking over "as much as possible" of VanMoof's operations. The company had raised more than $180 million from investors including private equity firm Hillhouse, Silicon Valley venture capital fund Norwest Venture Partners and venture firm Felix Capital. According to another source familiar with the matter, McLaren Applied is one of two suitors remaining for VanMoof. Bought from McLaren by private equity firm Greybull Capital in 2021, McLaren Applied recently launched the premium Lavoie e-scooter brand.

Persons: de Wouw, Lavoie, VanMoof, Felix Capital, Jan Padberg, Nick Carey, Frances Kerry Organizations: REUTERS, Formula, McLaren, Reuters, Norwest Venture Partners, Nasdaq, Capital, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Netherlands, Silicon Valley

George Clinical declined to comment. The private equity firm has entered a deal to buy most of George Clinical, the clinical research organisation said in December, adding the transaction was subject to FIRB approval. George Clinical did not disclose a sale price but said its parent, the George Institute, a medical research group, would retain an undefined stake. The George Clinical deal would involve the holding of healthcare and patient data which is considered sensitive in Australia. Hillhouse has offered to ensure data remains onshore and not be shared overseas, the people said.

Persons: George Clinical, Hillhouse, Zhang Lei, George, George Clinical's, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Hillhouse Capital, Foreign Investment, Board, of, Treasury, George Institute, Yale University, Tencent Holdings, HK, JD.com Inc, Baidu Inc, Koninklijke Philips NV, Thomson, & $ Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, United States, Australia, China, Refinitiv, Netherlands, Asia, Pacific, Sydney

☆ Private equity hurtles towards hard Asia reset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SINGAPORE, June 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sequoia’s decision to carve out its China business formalises a push for a hard reset in Asia that private equity firms have until now largely been grappling with behind the scenes. These country-agnostic funds accounted for just over half the money raised in 2022 in the region, a 22-year high. Granted, these South and Southeast Asia markets are small at present compared to China; that’s why more firms are seeking bigger-ticket buyouts in Australia and Japan. That will eventually weigh on performance in the region, which for top-quartile Asia funds last year was a very respectable median 25% net internal rate of return, per Preqin. Private equity’s cooling relationship with China, though, is likely to hit hard for most.

Persons: Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh, Singh, Zhang Lei, There’s, Shen, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Bain & Co, Bain Capital, KKR, XV Partners, Sequoia, Twitter, NEWS Venture, Sequoia Capital, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, China, Asia, Republic, Sequoia, India, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Hillhouse, Singapore, Australia, Japan, U.S

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian e-commerce and gaming giant Sea Ltd (SE.N) is winding down its investment arm, two people with knowledge of the matter said, amid a cooling investment environment globally as macroeconomic and market uncertainty weigh on valuations. The arm, Sea Capital, stopped new equity investing in 2022 with leadership moving on in May, while Sea itself is placing less priority on investing given market conditions, one of the people said. Singapore-based Sea launched Sea Capital in March 2021 with initial capital of $1 billion after buying Hong Kong's Composite Capital Management, founded by former Hillhouse Capital partner David Ma who became Sea's chief investment officer. One of the people said the decision to wind down Sea Capital was prompted by "less deal activity" resulting in fewer investment opportunities. Sea Capital had made at least three investments, including in 2021 into collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Persons: David Ma, Ma, FTX, Kane Wu, Fanny Potkin, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Capital, Hong Kong's, Capital Management, Hillhouse, Sea, U.S, Asia's, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, Asia, Japan, Singapore, New York, Sea, India, Europe, Hong Kong

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian e-commerce and gaming giant Sea Ltd (SE.N) is winding down its investment arm, two people with knowledge of the matter said, amid a cooling investment environment globally as macroeconomic and market uncertainty weigh on valuations. The arm, Sea Capital, stopped new equity investing in 2022 with leadership moving on in May, while Sea itself is placing less priority on investing given market conditions, one of the people said. Singapore-based Sea launched Sea Capital in March 2021 with initial capital of $1 billion after buying Hong Kong's Composite Capital Management, founded by former Hillhouse Capital partner David Ma who became Sea Capital's chief investment officer. One of the people said the decision to wind down Sea Capital was prompted by "less deal activity" resulting in fewer investment opportunities. Sea Capital had made at least three investments, including in 2021 into collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

☆ This startup that makes green hydrogen more efficient and safer just raised $26 million. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck Hystar used to win over investors.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company has developed technology to help create green hydrogen more efficiently and safely. A startup helping others make hydrogen more efficiently and safely just raised $26 million in a Series B funding round. The process is a chemical reaction that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen; hydrogen created this way is known as green hydrogen, in order to differentiate from other production methods. There is strong momentum for green hydrogen from both politicians and the public, Hystar CEO Fredrik Mowill told Insider. "Almost all of the losses in electrolyzers are a result of that resistance across that membrane," Mowill said.

☆ Five Chinese startups that survived a tough year of Covid lockdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBEIJING — In a year of Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions, some Chinese startups that survived found growth online and overseas. The startup avoided significant impact from China's Covid lockdowns since it could deliver its products virtually, Jiang said. The company aggressively pushed overseas in 2022 – launching subsidiaries in Tokyo, Seoul, Germany, Dubai, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, Wan said. Previously, Wan said that Keenon had seen revenue at least double or more every year from a lower base, when the China market was growing. The company has a staff of 100 people in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and Los Angeles, Lin said.

☆ Asian hedge funds amassed China's Pinduoduo, ditched JD.com in Q3
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Some of Asia’s largest hedge funds scooped up large stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo in the third quarter while cutting holdings in its rival JD.com, according to their latest regulatory filings. Pinduoduo, the e-commerce platform known for selling inexpensive goods, in September launched its first overseas site in the United States. JD.com ADRs and Hong Kong shares (9618.HK) fell more than 20% each in the third quarter. As for JD.com, it is a pure domestic play with a higher correlation to overall trends in Chinese markets, analysts say. They also say investors could be moving their holdings in JD.com ADRs to Hong Kong-listed ones to hedge U.S. delisting risks.

Search resuls for: "Hillhouse"

16 mentions found