Tesla announced on Weibo that customers can now book their Model 3 China version online or in store.
Prices start at ¥355,800. The first delivery will be in 2020 Q1. Before the Shanghai version, Tesla Model 3 was sold in China for more than ¥439,900.
Customers need to put a deposit of ¥20,000, which can be paid in AliPay or WeChat.
The pickup availability is shown below.
Three models of Model 3 will be sold in China.
MGM Resorts International is putting the Bellagio into a joint venture controlled by a Blackstone Group Inc real-estate investment trust. MGM is to hold a 5% stake in the venture and $4.2 billion cash and will continue to operate the hotel and casino, which it will rent from the venture for $245 million a year. The transaction values Bellagio at $4.25 billion, the company said. [WSJ]
MGM said it is separately selling another Strip casino, Circus Circus, to an associate of Phil Ruffin, who owns Treasure Island in Las Vegas, for $825 million.
Japan’s move last year to legalize gambling opened the way for global casino operators to pursue licenses there.
MGM Resorts has adopted what it calls its “Osaka-first” strategy, pouring its efforts into securing a license in that city.
MGM could also look to wring some value from its 50 percent interest in mixed-use complex CityCenter, as well its 68 percent stake in MGM Growth Properties (NYSE:MGP). [casino.org]
The company stated its intention to reduce domestic net debt/EBITDA (on a restricted group basis) to about 1.0x – Moody’s
Crunchbase News, first published on March 13, 2017, is part of Crunchbase.
Verizon retains an ownership stake in the company. [Crunchbase News – About]
Investors in Crunchbase also include:
The company raised $18 million of Series B venture funding from lead investor Mayfield on April 6, 2017, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $52 million.
Acquired by Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) for $225 million on December 1, 2016. Deal announced in October.
Morningstar was an early investor in PitchBook and owned approximately 20 percent of the company before acquisition.
At that time, PitchBook had $31.1 million in revenue for the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2016. The company has more than 300 employees located in Seattle, New York, and London.
Raised $10 million of Series A venture funding from Pilot Growth Equity on November 9, 2015, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $40 million.
After WeWork’s unsuccessful IPO, several long-term apartment rentals startups in China are preparing to list on Nasdaq. Q&K (青客公寓) will likely be the first, planning to raise $100 million, according to the SEC filing.
Firms like Q&K will lease apartments from individual landlords, renovate the space with uniform styles, and then sublease fully-furnished rooms to tenants, who are mainly young urbanites looking for affordable housing. Q&K reported a net revenue of USD 129.6 million in the fiscal year 2018, up 70.3% year-on-year. Net losses however doubled to USD 72.8 million in the same period. [kr-asia]
I do believe they are similar to WeWork in many aspects.
Q&K is more like a test for investors’ current appetite (especially needed after WeWork), with two other bigger players waiting in line. Not surprisingly, those are backed by Alibaba and Tencent respectively.
Ant Financial-backed Danke (蛋壳公寓) and Tencent-backed Ziroom (自如) both are also looking for an IPO to raise $500 million – $1 billion.
Danke raised $500 million in February 2019.
Ziroom raised $500 million in June 2019.
Cyber-security has been a hot space for investments and acquisitions. With Thoma Bravo buying Sophos Group for $3.8 billion this week, here is a roundup of selected corporate M&As happened since 2018.
cloud services infrastructure protection – Palo Alto Networks to acquire Evident for $300 million (2018.3)
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) – Palo Alto Networks to Acquire Secdo for $100 million (2018.4)
unified access security and multi-factor authentication – Cisco to acquire Duo System for $2.35 billion (2018.8)
Cloud Security – Check Point to Acquire Dome9 for $175 million (2018.10)
Operational Technology (OT) network security – Forescout to acquire SecurityMatters for $113 million (2018.11)
AI based endpoint cybersecurity – Blackberry to acquire Cylance for $1.4 billion (2018.11)
network and endpoints protections – Carbonite to acquire Webroot for $618.5 million (2019.2)
security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) – Palo Alto Networks to acquire Demisto for $560 million (2019.2)
enterprise security – Broadcom to acquire Symantec’s enterprise business for $10.7 billion (2019.8)
WSJ – Mastercard, Visa, eBay Drop Out of Facebook’s Libra Payments Network
The first official meeting of the Libra Council is scheduled for October 14th in Geneva.
Dots to connect: future governance of cryptocurrency, possibility of a global cryptocurrency network run by companies, China can move into global crypto payments if supported/approved
Following WeWork’s unsuccessful IPO (so far), people became more concerned with valuations similar companies – as Morgan Stanley says WeWork’s failed IPO marks the end of an era for unprofitable unicorns and its struggles share eerie similarities to three other market tops throughout history.
In public, the chairman of Softbank, Masayoshi Son commented that WeWork and Uber may be losing money now, but they will be substantially profitable in 10 years’ time.
Meanwhile, there are a bunch of other similar companies of watch and we can see what other investors are thinking.
formerly called CloudKitchens, or “WeWork for Food”, led by Uber ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, with $150 million funding announced in March 2018.
My new gig… pic.twitter.com/vpD528cdyf
— travis kalanick (@travisk) March 20, 2018
Travis announced that he would be starting a new fund with his windfall from Uber shares sold in its most recent major secondary round. At the time, Kalanick said the new fund — called 10100, or “ten one hundred” — would be geared toward “large-scale job creation,” with investments in real estate, ecommerce, and “emerging innovation in India and China.” CSS has two businesses, CloudKitchens and CloudRetail (controlled with one entity I assume), which focus on redevelopment of distressed assets in those two areas. [Crunchbase]
And in Feb 2019, Travis Kalanick said to plot China comeback with ‘shared kitchen’ business – CloudKitchens in China, partnering with Zhang Yanqi, former COO of ofo.
also backed by SoftBank, started from assembling hotel rooms under its brand and management system in India.
OYO CEO purchased $2 billion shares of its company this summer at a valuation of $10 billion. After the deal, Mr. Agarwal’s stake in Oyo will rise to 30% from around 10%. Of the $2bn, Mr Agarwal spent $1.3bn on a secondary purchase that saw US backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital partly cash out.
And this week, OYO raised another $1.5 billion. The remaining $700m from the previous $2 billion is included in this round.
It also recently announced a $300m investment in the US, where it has 50 hotels.
Besides it core business, OYO expanded into businesses like cloud kitchen (through acquisition of FreshMenu for about $60 million) and co-working as well (through acquisition of Innov8 for $30 million)
acquired by Blackstone, the traditional and one of the largest real estate players in the work, back in June 2017 for approximately £500m.
But with a different type of investor, TOG might be on the path of growing profits.
Its financial results for 2015 reported its EBITDA up 33% to £15.4m (2014: £11.6m), and revenues up 62% to £54.3m (2014: £33.6m). TOG is London’s largest privately-owned occupier of office space (at least by that time). [leadersleague]
In September, Airbnb announces it will go public in 2020, after WeWork’ delayed IPO.
It reported “substantially” more than $1 billion in revenue in Q3 2018.
Earlier this year, Airbnb sold common shares at a price that values the home-rental startup at roughly $35 billion. The company priced its equity at about $120 per share when it purchased the last-minute room provider HotelTonight for $450 million. [recode]
And in August, Airbnb announced the acquisition of Urbandoor, a platform that offers extended stays to corporate clients.
In June, it launched Airbnb Luxe, another tier besides Airbnb Plus introduced in February 2018.
Also – a report on beer that includes 2011-2016 beer consumption growth by country.
So ~200,000,000,000 liters divided by world population of 7,500,000,000 = 26.67 liters per person annually.
Say a can of beer is 330 ml – then each person is consuming ~80 cans per year.
That is a larger than I expected.
Although beer still needs to compete with wines, spirits and others for total alcohol consumption, it is still the no.1 source of alcohol (worldwide, but varies by country) – the impacts on everyday life are huge!
A better graphic illustration of alcohol consumption can be found here. A few screenshots are listed below.
In the US, craft beers is a growing sector while the overall beer sales is declining in 2018.
And the number of brewpubs is growing rapidly in recent years in the US.
And stories have been told, for example, Corono has been very popular and growing fast in China.
On a conference call following the release of Q1 2018 results yesterday, Carlos Brito told analysts that AB InBev’s more expensive offerings are doing “very well” in China. He singled out Corona, which became the number one imported beer in China in the three-month period. The brand “[is] growing very rapidly”, Brito added. A-B InBev boasts around a 20% market share in the country, with strength coming from its premium and super-premium brands. [just-drinks.com]
And sales of Budweiser in China overtook those in America in the first half of 2018. [beveragedaily.com]
Corona’s parent company Modelo was acquired by AB InBev in 2012 for $20 billion at an enterprise value to EBITDA multiple of 15.4 times.
In November 2012, Fosun Group acquired a 20 percent stake in Taiwan’s pastry maker Vigor Kobo for 77 million yuan ($12.26 million).
It was transferred to the Fosun Tourism Group in April 2018 (then 18.68% equity interests in Vigor Kobo Co., Ltd) at a consideration of HKD19,319,787 which was mutually agreed by both parties based on the quoted market price of Vigor.
In March 2015, Thomas Cook, one of the world’s leading global leisure travel groups and Fosun entered into a strategic partnership, in which Fosun to become a long term shareholder in Thomas Cook; Fosun has agreed to invest £91.8m for the issue of 73,135,777 new Thomas Cook ordinary shares, representing 5% of the Company’s existing issued ordinary share capital, and intends over time to purchase further Thomas Cook shares on the open market with a view to increasing its shareholding in Thomas Cook up to approximately 10% of the enlarged issued ordinary share capital.
In June 2015, Thomas Cook and Fosun said they are to launch their China JV (called Kuyi, 51% owned by Fosun and 49% by Thomas Cook).
On June, 2018, Fosun Tourism Group acquired 82,546,172 ordinary shares of Thomas Cook, representing approximately 5.37% equity interest in Thomas Cook, from Fosun International for a consideration of GBP89,562,597, which was determined based on the closing price of 25 June 2018.
Fosun Tourism Group later purchased additional shares of Thomas Cook and held in total 6.04% of the equity interest in Thomas Cook as of November 2018.
In June 2019, it was reported that Fosun is in talk to acquire Thomas Cook.
In January 2016, Shanghai Fanyou acquired 100% of the equity interests in Beijing Xiuping at a total consideration of RMB1,230,000.
On 28 February 2017, Fosun Tourism Group acquired the entire equity interest in Shanghai Fanyou via Shanghai FTD at a consideration of RMB31,017,100, which was determined based on an independent valuation report of Shanghai Fanyou as of 31 July 2016 and fully settled on 11 May 2018.
Shanghai Miniversity, a company jointly owned by Fanyou (70%) and Mattel (30%), was established to focus on the provision of learning and playing club for children under the Miniversity brand, and our first Miniversity club was opened in February 2018 within Atlantis Sanya.
Atlantis Sanya is owned by Fosun Tourism Group, and managed by Kerzner, except for Tang Residence. Kerzner is a world-renowned manager of premium properties.
As remuneration for Kerzner ’s services, in respect of each operating year, we pay Kerzner (i) a base management fee in an amount equal to a percentage of gross revenue for such operating year; (ii) a marketing fee in an amount equal to a percentage of gross revenue for such operating year; and (iii) provided that the results of operation of such operating year meet certain thresholds, an incentive management fee in an amount equal to a percentage of the gross operating profit threshold plus a percentage of the gross operating profit in excess of the threshold.
In 2014, Hainan Atlantis commenced construction of Atlantis Sanya. Atlantis Sanya had its soft opening in February 2018 and officially opened in April 2018.
Fosun Tourism Group plans to establish, manage and operate a tourism destination with a total GFA of approximately 350,000 square meters in Baisha town in Lijiang city, Yunnan province in southwestern China (the “Lijiang Project”).
The construction of the Lijiang Project is expected to be completed in stages starting from either late 2020 or early 2021 and achieve full completion in the following two to three years. The estimated cost expected to be incurred in the next few years for the Lijiang Project is approximately RMB2.4 billion, the majority of which is expected to be construction costs.
Fosun Tourism Group has entered into agreements on and fully paid up the prices of RMB2,245.0 million for the acquisitions of land use rights of land parcels of over 483,000 square meters in total in Taicang city, Jiangsu province in east-central China and plan to establish, manage and operate a tourism destination in Taicang city (the “Taicang Project”) .
The estimated cost to be incurred in the next few years for the Taicang Project is approximately RMB7.7 billion, the majority of which is expected to be construction costs.
[1] http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-11/16/content_15936798.htm
[2] https://www.thomascookgroup.com/investors/insight_external_assest/150306-FINAL-Fosun-RNS.pdf
[3] https://www.marketscreener.com/FOSUN-INTERNATIONAL-LIMIT-6170582/news/Fosun-Forms-Joint-Venture-in-China-with-Thomas-Cook-20550671/
[4] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/09/08/thomas-cook-eyes-affluent-chinese-with-fosun-tie-up/
[5] https://news.sky.com/story/thomas-cook-confirms-fosun-takeover-approach-11738803
[5] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2018/1130/ltn20181130029.pdf
During 2015, Club Med opened three new resorts, including a new flagship skiing resort Val Thorens Sensations in the Alps region of France, 52 exceptional villas on the island of Finolhu in the Maldives and the four Trident resort in Dong’Ao Island in China which comes to complete the Dong’Ao five Trident Luxury space opened in 2014. In addition, the fourth resort in China has commenced business in Sanya in January 2016.
In line with Club Med’s development plan, China has become the second largest market after France in 2015, with the number of Chinese tourists increased by 29% year-on-year to 123,000.
In Fosun International 2016 annual report, it says the number of tourists in the Greater China Region recorded 200,000, which was 10 times more than such number at the time before Fosun’s investment in 2010.
In 2016, Club Med opened three new resorts, including Sanya, Beidahu (a skiing resort in Jilin) and Lake Paradise (in the vicinity of Sao Paulo in Brazil).
Therefore in 2016, Club Med has completed its 5-resorts plan with Yabuli, Guilin, Dongao, Sanya and Beidahu openings.
For 2017, Fosun reports that customers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Americas and Asia increased by approximately 3.0%, 19.6% and 3.9%, respectively, compared to those in 2016.
In addition, Club Med has launched the new brand “Joyview”, offering premium excursion resorts in China. Club Med Joyview Changli Golden Coast and Club Med Joyview Anji opened in January 2018.
In 2018, In Greater China, the second market after France, the number of customers reached 243,000, +22% vs 2017.
In 2019, Club Med will open a Club Med Joyview near Beijing.
Club Med said its initiative in 2016 to include the ability to pay by WeChat in China is successful.
In 2017, Club Med signed a partnership with UnionPay International and adopted the UnionPay card. By partnering with UnionPay International, Club Med now offers to its Asian and particularly Chinese customers staying in its resorts in France, a new payment method to facilitate and secure their banking transactions abroad.
In 2018, mobile is becoming the key digital tool, generating over 50% of traffic.
Club Med opened Club Med Grand Massif Samoëns Morillon Resort in the French Alps and Club Med Tomamu Resort in Hokkaido, Japan in December 2017.
In another statement, Club Med said in 2017 investment by Club Med’s real estate partners added more than €300 M.
Central America – In the Caribbean, in Turks and Caicos, Club Med Turquoise has undergone major renovation to become a 4 Trident resort. Located on Grace Bay, which CNN Travel and Trip Advisor voted the most beautiful beach in the world at the start of this year, the resort is mainly aimed at adults, couples and groups of friends.
Europe – In Sicily, in the magnificent location of historic Cefalù, Club Med is to inaugurate its first 5 Trident Exclusive Collection Mediterranean resort on June. Finally, a new mountain resort is to open in December 2018: Les Arcs Panorama[10] in the heart of Paradiski in the French Alps. This will be a 4 Trident, with an Exclusive Collection Space (5 Trident Space).
In 2019, Club Med will open a new 4 Tridents resort in l’Alpe d’Huez and the construction of two new mountains resorts is starting: in France new chalets-apartments in Grand Massif Samoens Morillon and in Canada in Quebec Charlevoix.
In 2019, Club Med will open a new Club Med Exclusive Collection resort, Michès Playa Esmeralda in the Dominican Republic. Also, the construction of two new resorts has started: one Club Med Exclusive Collection resort in the Seychelles on the island of Sainte-Anne and a seaside 4 Tridents resort in Spain, Marbella.
[1] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Press-release-Grand-Opening-Dongao-Island-2015-EN.pdf
[2] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2016/0428/ltn20160428889.pdf
[3] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2017/0420/ltn201704201608.pdf
[4] https://blog.clubmed.com.au/blog/tag/Club+Med+Beidahu
[5] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2018/0426/ltn201804262072.pdf
[6] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Club-Med-Press-Release-2018-Business-overview-activity1.pdf
[7] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CP_Club-Med_Corporate_26-january-2017_ENG.pdf
[8] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Club-Med-signed-a-partnership-with-UnionPay-International-and-adopted-the-UnionPay-card.pdf
[9] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Press-Release-Club-Med-2017-Business-overview-result.pdf
[10] http://corporate.clubmed/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Press-release-Inauguration-Club-Med-Les-Arcs-Panorama.pdf