China M&A Week in Review is SSCO’s weekly summary of deals and key developments in China related Mergers and Acquisitions. Our emphasis is on cross-border deals.
This Week’s Links:
Outbound M&A and Investment
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Huatai Securities to Pay $780 Million for AssetMark in Expansion–Bloomberg,11/4/2016 “Huatai Securities Co. will pay $780 million for U.S. consultancy firm AssetMark Financial Holdings Inc., the largest financial-services acquisition by a listed Chinese brokerage in almost three years…The transaction is the largest overseas financial-services purchase by a Chinese brokerage since Citic Securities Co. bought Credit Agricole SA’s CLSA unit for more than $800 million in 2013.”
Trian Ends Six-Year Push at Legg Mason With Sale to Shanda–Bloomberg,12/4/2016 “Activist investor Trian Fund Management agreed to sell its 9.9 percent stake in Legg Mason Inc. to Shanda Group, ending a six-year push to lift the share price of the Baltimore-based money manager…In January the company paid $585 million for an 83 percent stake in Clarion Partners, which specializes in real estate.”
TMT
Alibaba to Invest $1 Billion in E-Commerce Startup Lazada–The wall Street Journal,13/4/2016 “Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., in its biggest overseas acquisition to date, said Tuesday it would pay about $1 billion for a controlling stake in Singapore e-commerce startup Lazada Group…The deal comes after Alibaba in December agreed to pay 2.06 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$266 million) for Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post.”
Inbound M&A into China
No significant deals were reported.
Domestic M&A – Notable Deals
TMT
China’s Alibaba Bucks Baidu, JD, Tencent In Acquisition, Investment-Investors,13/4/2016 “E-commerce giant Alibaba Group (BABA) is investing $1.9 billion in two deals confirmed in the past two days, holding firm to its strategy of growth through acquisition and boosting local services in China.On Wednesday, Alibaba said it will invest $900 million into Shanghai-based Ele.me, while an affiliate, Ant Financial, will kick in another $350 million. ”
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About Stenvall Skoeld & Company
Stenvall Skoeld & Company (SSCO) is an M&A advisory firm with global reach on cross-border transactions. We act as financial advisors to buyers and sellers on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, capital raises and other strategic and financial transactions and investment decisions. We specialize in cross-border transactions involving Asia, China in particular.
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