China IPO Special - Week Beginning 17th March

March 17, 2014 - PRLog -- Hexagon Capital Management is a privately held wealth management company that manages hundreds of client assets in a wide range of products and services with a non biased, client orientated program that is tailored to each individual or corporate requirement.

The major breaking news for Monday 17th March is the unconfirmed result of the referendum in Crimea. With a reported 95% of voters electing to return to Russian rule we are now awaiting the outcome of several high level meetings in the next day or so as to the reaction of the US and EU counterparts. Putin was with Obama this weekend and this did little to change any outcome. Continued pressure from the United States and the G7 has done little to deter the Russian and the general consensus is that this is just the start of serious issues within the region.

Brussels meets later today to discuss its reaction to the vote and to look to make headway on a series of resolutions that will not jeopardize its relationship with Russia too harshly. It is a well known fact that many of the larger EU countries have serious ties both financially and economically with the former USSR and they will be hesitant to employ sanctions that would adversely affect them.

President Obama on the other hand does not really have this issue to contend with and as such is the driving force behind the harsher sanctions he is looking to impose as the results came in. Obama meets later today with the acting Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk and no doubt the two will be discussing how this situation can be dealt with.

Until the US and EU have discussed their response to the referendum it is hard to predict what will happen in the coming weeks.

China - It's not all bad news

China and its economy have been in the news this past few weeks after its release of less than positive data regarding its growth. As one of the worlds largest economies this has sent shivers down many a fund managers spine, however, its not all bad news.

This weekend saw the announcement of two of the most anticipated IPO's for 2014. Both of them Chinese and both of them listing in the United States.

Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd finally confirmed the rumours that it planned to list in the US. Although they have yet to confirm which exchange, it is expected that they will list on the NYSE. Last year they were in talks with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but due to issues with the regulatory board the deal fell through. Now it is expected that the IPO will be placed in the very near future in New York.

Alibaba is the world's largest retailer with over 500m customers and 800m product listings. It accounts for almost 80% of all e-commerce in China  and is touted to be the largest IPO since Facebook (FB) in 2012. With an analyst value of around $140bn they are looking to raise $15bn with the listing however the industry is still waiting for actual figures to be released. Yahoo Inc, one of the major owners in Alibaba is looking  set to profit from the proposed listing. With a 24% ownership of the company they have stated that they will look to reduce their stake after the IPO and this news will undoubtedly help keep Yahoo (YHOO) on the road to recovery. The news was late this weekend but shares in the tech giant are expected to react favorably and continue their run towards their 52 wk high.

Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter is set to make its appearance on the public exchanges. The company owned by Sina Corp. reported this weekend that it too is looking at a US listing. Although actual details are thin on the ground the company with over 129.1m monthly active users now feels the time is right to make the move. December 2013 revenues were $188m which is triple what it made the year prior according to reports. The social networking giant has little by way of competition considering its US rivals Facebook and Twitter are blocked on the mainland. With an internet market of over 500m users and growing owners Sina Corp are taking the chance to take the company global.

Further details are expected in the next few days regarding the number of shares and its pricing range.

For more information on the products and services provided by Hexagon Capital Management, please visit our website - www.hexagoncapitalmanagement.com or contact us directly on info@hexagoncapitalmanagement.com.

DISCLAIMER  The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this service are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hexagon Capital Management. All market data within this release is for your general information and enjoys indicative status only. Hexagon Capital Management does not accept any responsibility for its accuracy or for any use to which it may be put. All share prices and market indexes delayed at least 15 minutes. 52 week high and low values are calculated from close price data.