IEG China Outbound Investment News 1-18

To stay on top of things, IEG provides weekly updates about the Chinese Investment Banking ecosystem. These outbound news cover a selection of relevant trends and transactions with focus on IoT, AI, Industry 4.0, Technology, Fintech, Blockchain and SaaS.

China's Profex, Morgan Stanley-controlled fund to acquire majority stake in Greek cosmetics firm Korres

GREECE-BASED NATURAL COSMETICS company Korres SA on 27 December 2017 announced a strategic agreement with China's Profex Inc and Morgan Stanley (North Haven Private Equity Asia IV), with a majority stake in the high-flying company passing to foreign investors.

According to company founder and CEO Giorgos Korrres, the Korres family will retain 30 percent of the company's share capital and the management.

Source: Korres Corporate Announcement

Renren aquires U.S. Trucking Social Platform Trucker Path

RENREN INC. (NYSE: RENN), which operates a social networking service and internet finance business in China, announced on 29 December 2017 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Trucker Path Inc., a provider of a social platform for the trucking industry in the United States.

Source: Nasdaq

China’s Alibaba on road to deliver $100 million to XpressBees

CHINA'S ONLINE COMMERCE GIANT Alibaba Group Holdings is in advanced talks to pick up a significant minority stake in logistics company XpressBees by making an investment of up to $100 million, said three persons with knowledge of the matter.
The transaction, which is in the final stages of negotiations, will be Alibaba's sixth investment in the Indian market as it builds a string of assets to take on homegrown market leader Flipkart and global rival Amazon.

Source: The Economic Times

Company of the year Magnetic MRO sold to Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology

CHINESE COMPANY Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology will acquire 100 per cent of the Estonian aircraft maintenance company Magnetic MRO for € 43 million.

The deal will be finalized by the end of March when the parties have fulfilled all regulative requirements. In 2017 Magnetic MRO received the Estonia’s company of the year and exporter of the year awards. The aircraft maintenance company services large aviation companies from Europe and even from Africa. Today the company’s market share is tiny, but they are hungry for more.

Source: Invest in Estonia

U.S. blocks MoneyGram sale to China's Ant Financial on national security concerns

ANT FINANCIAL'S PLAN to acquire U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.O) collapsed on Tuesday after a U.S. government panel rejected it over national security concerns, the most high-profile Chinese deal to be torpedoed under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The $1.2 billion deal’s failure represents a blow for Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), who owns Ant Financial together with Alibaba executives. He was looking to expand Ant Financial’s footprint amid fierce domestic competition from Chinese rival Tencent Holdings Ltd’s (0700.HK) WeChat payment platform.

Source: Reuters

Didi Chuxing, China’s ride-hailing giant, agrees to buy Uber rival in Brazil

DIDI CHUXING, the Chinese ride-sharing company, agreed to acquire full control of 99 — the main Brazilian rival to Uber and a company in which Didi already holds a stake — for around $600 million, according to three people with knowledge of the transaction.

Source: New York Times

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