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China Global M&A Push, 2005 ~ Nowadays

SDIC Fund Management to Buy Stake in Maxwell Technologies

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  • On April 10, 2017, Maxwell Technologies, Inc. entered into a stock purchase agreement with SDIC Fund Management Co., Ltd., pursuant to which Maxwell Technologies will issue and sell to SDIC Fund Management Co. approximately 19.9% of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$46.55 million. (See Maxwell Technologies Form 8-K, Apr. 10, 2017, SEC Filing.)
  • Maxwell Technologies is “a leading developer and manufacturer of capacitive energy storage and power delivery solutions.” (Maxwell Technologies, Press Release, Maxwell Signs $47 Million Strategic Equity Investment Agreement with China’s SDIC Fund Management Co., Maxwell Technologies Form 8-K, Ex-99.1, Apr. 10, 2017, SEC Filing.)
  • SDIC Fund Management Co. is a private equity fund manager in China with “significant investments in China’s energy storage industry, including top battery companies, major system integrators in the new energy market, as well as leading OEMs in the China auto and grid industries.” (Id.) The majority of SDIC Fund Management Co. shareholders are Chinese-state owned entities, including the State Development & Investment Corporation (a Chinese state-owned holding company), China’s National Social Security Fund, and several provincial investment corporations. (See website for State Development & Investment corporation indicating SDIC is a majority shareholder in SDIC Fund Management Co.)
  • The investment will be used by Maxwell Technologies “for strategic developments, including, notably related to dry battery electrode development, as well as working capital and general corporate purposes.” (Maxwell Technologies Form 8-K, Apr. 10, 2017, SEC Filing.)
  • The Stock Purchase Agreement calls for a draft Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) notification to be filed ten business days after signing (i.e., by Apr. 24, 2017), and closing conditions for the investment include clearance by CFIUS.
http://www.swfinstitute.org/swf-news/sdic-fund-management-to-buy-stake-in-maxwell-technologies/
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cb09efb7-3c51-42fe-9e89-cd9c76fa06ee
http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stori...ity-investment-in-maxwell-technologies-69998/
 
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China's Fosun plans to buy stake in Russia's Polyus: Interfax
Deals | Wed Apr 12, 2017 | 2:47pm EDT

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  • China's Fosun International Ltd (0656.HK) plans to sign an agreement to buy a stake in Russia's largest gold producer Polyus (PLZL.MM), Interfax news agency quoted Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying on Wednesday.
  • Shuvalov also said that aluminum giant Rusal (0486.HK) could soon announce the placement of the second tranche of its Chinese yuan-denominated bond, known as a Panda bond. Rusal placed its first tranche of the Panda bond in March.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fosun-russia-idUSKBN17E2HU
 
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Sibanye Gets U.S. Security Nod to Buy Stillwater Mines
by David McLaughlin and Paul Burkhardt
April 17, 2017, 11:15 PM GMT+10 April 18, 2017, 5:16 AM GMT+10
  • Deal received CFIUS approval, Stillwater says in statement
  • China investor is top shareholder in South Africa’s Sibanye

The U.S. cleared the sale of the country’s sole provider of platinum and palladium to a miner whose biggest investor is Chinese, providing the first indication that the Trump administration’s tough talk on China won’t necessarily translate into blocking Beijing-linked deals.

Sibanye Gold Ltd.’s $2.2 billion deal to purchase Colorado-based Stillwater Mining Co. will go ahead after the companies received notice from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., known as CFIUS, that the tie-up posed no unresolved national security issues, Stillwater said Monday in a statement.

Sibanye also confirmed the news. “We are obviously very pleased to have received CFIUS approval and, now that all regulatory conditions have been met, look forward to the shareholder vote on 25 April 2017,” James Wellsted, a spokesman, said in an email Monday.

The transaction won approval despite President Donald Trump’s criticism of China’s trade practices. In addition to its Chinese ownership, Stillwater is the sole U.S. source of platinum and palladium, materials that the Defense Department regards as strategic. Its Montana operations are also about 200 miles (322 kilometers) from Malmstrom Air Force Base, which maintains and operates part of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

National Security

The approval by CFIUS, which has a mandate to protect U.S. national security, may have included a secret agreement, known as mitigation, to ensure supplies of the metals to U.S. military contractors, according to people familiar with the security reviews.

Stillwater didn’t disclose whether any conditions were placed on the deal, and spokesmen for Stillwater and Sibanye didn’t respond to requests for comment. CFIUS doesn’t comment on its reviews.

Stillwater rose 3.5 percent to $17.84 at 3:15 p.m. in New York.

The deal is among several pending U.S. takeovers by Chinese investors under review by CFIUS, which is led by the Treasury Department and includes officials from the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments. The panel is grappling with a record number of deals at a time when the Trump administration has yet to fill key positions.

‘Fully Committed’

One deal awaiting approval is for Lattice Semiconductor Corp., which has agreed to be sold to Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a firm backed by Chinese investors. Lattice said in a securities filing in March that the deal was resubmitted to CFIUS after the 75-day review period expired without a decision. Lattice said the companies remained “fully committed” to the deal and were “actively engaged” with CFIUS.

The panel also is reviewing a pending takeover of money-transfer company MoneyGram International Inc. by Ant Financial Services Group, which was spun out from the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. On Sunday, Ant Financial raised its bid to $18 a share from $13.25. A rival to Ant Financial, Euronet Worldwide Inc., had offered $15.20 a share and warned Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin of the “significant” national security risks of an Ant Financial-MoneyGram deal.

Sibanye, based in South Africa, is about 20 percent owned by a Chinese consortium. That shareholder, Gold One Group Ltd., is owned by several private and state-linked companies including China Development Bank Corp., according to a document provided this year by Sibanye. Sibanye said last month that CFIUS wanted to undertake further investigation into the Stillwater sale after an initial review period that ended on Feb. 28.

Adding Stillwater’s two Montana mines would make Sibanye the world’s third-biggest palladium producer. Stillwater sells most of its output to a European refiner, which in turn sells to various companies, including U.S. manufacturers.

Both Stillwater and Sibanye have scheduled shareholder meetings on April 25 to vote on the proposed merger, Stillwater said in its statement. If successful, it will be the biggest takeover by a South African mining company since 2001, when a group including Anglo American Plc and the Oppenheimer family took control of De Beers.
 
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Li Ka-shing Wraps Up Duet Deal in Biggest Overseas Purchas

Li Ka-shing has wrapped up his biggest overseas deal on record, the A$7.4 billion ($5.6 billion) takeover bid for Australian power provider Duet Group, nine months after he was barred from buying another power asset there on national security concerns.

A group led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., the power plant and toll road operator Li controls, won approval from Foreign Investment Review Board for the takeover, Duet said Friday in a statement. The A$3.03 a share offer, raised to that level in January, is about 10 percent more than Thursday’s closing price, prompting the stock to jump 9.5 percent to A$3.01 as of the close in Sydney Friday.

Asia’s third-richest man had to sweeten the deal in January and add a special dividend of 3 cents a share to win control of the energy network, a deal that has unfolded amid rising concern that Europe, his biggest market, is becoming less welcoming to outside investment. Li, 88, has been adding overseas assets to diversify a business empire that encompasses ports, property, telecommunication

“As China is increasingly becoming intrusive in how Hong Kong runs its affairs, Li Ka-shing is increasingly focusing on overseas investments,” Justin Tang, director of global special situations at Religare Capital Markets in Singapore, said by phone.

Li-controlled companies already own stakes in Australian assets including SA Power Networks, Powercor Australia, Australian Gas Networks and CitiPower I Pty Ltd.

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The offer by three of Li-controlled companies -- Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd., Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. and Power Assets Holdings Ltd. is their largest reported, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The acquisition, formally announced in December, helped bring the 2016 deals total for the three companies to $12.8 billion, the highest since at least 2005, the data show.

Duet’s assets include the Dampier-Bunbury pipeline in Western Australia, a stake in electricity distributor United Energy, gas distribution business Multinet Gas, pipelines business DBP Development Group and Energy Developments Ltd., according to Duet’s website.

For more on Australian opposition to asset sales to Chinese companies, click here.
CKI didn’t respond to email and phone calls to its media relations department.

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison has no objection to the bid by a consortium led by CKI, Duet said in a statement Friday. The deal was approved “overwhelmingly” by proxy voters, Duet Chairman Doug Halley told a meeting in Sydney, with 99.3 percent support. A spokeswoman for Morrison confirmed the approval.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...id-by-li-ka-shing-s-cki-approved-by-australia
 
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China’s Outbound M&As Plummet 77% in First Quarter
By Wang Xiaoxia and Liu Xiao
Apr 21, 2017

(Beijing) — Chinese outbound investment slowed in the first quarter as regulators increased scrutiny of overseas deals, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said Thursday.

Chinese overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fell 77% in value terms in the first quarter compared with the same period last year as the nation’s businesses reported 142 overseas M&A deals valued at $21.2 billion, the report said.

The decrease in M&A activity is related to the increased scrutiny over the authenticity and compliance of overseas deals, said Zhen Zhao, director of PwC China’s M&A services. An uncertain international political environment is another contributing factor, said Zhen, adding that he expected overseas direct investment to regain “rationality” this year.

Starting late last year, China stepped up restrictions on outbound investment in an effort to stem capital outflows as the yuan’s value tumbled to multiyear lows. Regulators were concerned that companies were pushing through deals on fears the yuan will continue to fall, and were making expensive acquisitions that did not build on core businesses.

During the China Development Forum last month, Pan Gongsheng, the head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China’s foreign-exchange regulator, criticized “irrational” investments.

He cited a domestic steel maker’s acquisition of an overseas food company, a Chinese restaurant’s purchase of overseas internet gaming companies, and the frequent acquisition of soccer clubs abroad — a trend that has done little to boost China’s soccer prowess.

Overseas investment surged in 2016, when Chinese companies announced a total of $170 billion worth of investments, up more than 40% from a year earlier.

Ministry of Commerce data shows that nonfinancial outbound direct investment, a broader measure of overseas investment than M&A, dropped 48.8% year-on-year to $20.54 billion in the first quarter.

Contact reporter Liu Xiao (liuxiao@caixin.com)
 
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The decrease in M&A activity is related to the increased scrutiny over the authenticity and compliance of overseas deals, said Zhen Zhao, director of PwC China’s M&A services. ...
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...China’s foreign-exchange regulator, criticized “irrational” investments.

He cited a domestic steel maker’s acquisition of an overseas food company, a Chinese restaurant’s purchase of overseas internet gaming companies, and the frequent acquisition of soccer clubs abroad — a trend that has done little to boost China’s soccer prowess.
It makes sense to scrutinised and carefully evaluate these overseas acquisitions. It has to be in China's interest.
IMO, whatever acquisitions however silly, is still much better than holding on to the useless T-bills or fiat currency.

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Overseas investment surged in 2016, when Chinese companies announced a total of $170 billion worth of investments, up more than 40% from a year earlier.

Ministry of Commerce data shows that nonfinancial outbound direct investment, a broader measure of overseas investment than M&A, dropped 48.8% year-on-year to $20.54 billion in the first quarter.
In 2016, there was still an increase of 40%.
Although there is a drop of 77% in 2017 Q1, I think it will pick up during the rest of the year.
Let's wait and see.
 
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It makes sense to scrutinised and carefully evaluate these overseas acquisitions. It has to be in China's interest.
IMO, whatever acquisitions however silly, is still much better than holding on to the useless T-bills or fiat currency.

Yes, it definitely makes sense to scrutinize and regulate potentially irrational acquisitions. The companies with cash and desire to diversify need to have strategic patience and target the most lucrative business/companies. Otherwise, in the long term, they will suffer and perhaps incur debts and face bankruptcy.

Government intervention is still regulated.

For investment, companies will increasingly look at B&R as a potential destination, I believe.

In 2016, there was still an increase of 40%.
Although there is a drop of 77% in 2017 Q1, I think it will pick up during the rest of the year.
Let's wait and see.

I agree. Maybe it will catch the numbers of last year. If they are able to locate high-value emerging technology/industry firms, that would be great for them and national economy.
 
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China's TCL chairman complains of US protectionism over pending tech deal
April 21, 2017, 02:06:00 AM EDT By Reuters
  • Says awaiting approval for U.S. deal for 6 months
  • Says had to resubmit related material after Trump assumed office
  • Says has been informed unlikely to win approval
By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG, April 21 (Reuters) - China'sTCL Group on Friday said U.S. protectionism is the biggest hurdle to Chinese firms going global, and that the electronics maker had been told it may not win approval in its bid to buy a U.S. technology firm.

"We have an acquisition deal in the U.S. It's been over half a year. It is still not approved by the government," Chairman Li Dongsheng said on the sidelines of an event in Hong Kong.​

He did not elaborate on the deal beyond saying the target is a high-tech company with product sales in the United States and manufacturing in China. "Protectionism is the biggest roadblock to Chinese companies' internationalisation," said Li, who founded the group
that makes consumer electronics, display panels and home appliances.

TCL is the world's third-largest maker of television sets after South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and LG Electronics Inc <066570.KS>, and is also China's second-largest display maker. It also ranks as the world's seventh-largest handset vendor, known as the maker of phones for Alcatel SA and Blackberry Ltd <BB.TO>.

Li said the U.S. deal was "very close to approval" before President Donald Trump assumed office, after which all administrative reviews were frozen. TCL was then required to resubmit all material related to the deal and was told it may not be approved, Li said.

"(The target company) has nothing to do with military. That's why I am unhappy they would not approve it," he said, declining to elaborate. He said the group is still working towards the deal and "hoping for a miracle".
TCL was also seeking acquisitions in Israel and was looking at over 10 potential targets, Li said.

He said the group is interested in technological companies related to TCL's business, especially in smart manufacturing, new materials, big data and internet applications. TCL Corp <000100.SZ>, the group's main entity listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, in a statement late on Thursday said trading in its shares would be halted from Thursday, pending an announcement of a major plan. It did not elaborate.

(Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing) (annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
 
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"We have an acquisition deal in the U.S. It's been over half a year. It is still not approved by the government," Chairman Li Dongsheng said on the sidelines of an event in Hong Kong.

The US government is way too slow due to internal struggle and systemic corruption. This hurts global economic growth prospects.
 
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China's HNA continues buying spree, purchases 17% stake in Swiss duty-free operator Dufry
Published 8 hours ago

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Dufry, which opened continental Europe's first duty-free shop in 1952 in Paris, has become the world's largest travel-retail company. PHOTO: REUTERS

ZURICH (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, AFP) - Chinese conglomerate HNA has agreed to purchase 16.8 per cent of Swiss duty-free stores operator Dufry, a stake with a market value of about 1.44 billion Swiss francs (S$2.08 billion).

HNA purchased stakes from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, and investment company Temasek Holdings, according to an exchange filing. The purchase price, based on market conditions, is a "low double digit premium," according to the filing.

HNA's stake would give it access to the world's largest travel retail operator's global retail network with 2,200 shops at airports, sea hubs and tourist locations from Las Vegas to Milan.

HNA, which operates over 2,000 hotels globally and 16 airports in China, has been acquiring travel-related businesses as rising incomes fuel a boom in Chinese tourism. On Monday, it agreed to buy a stake in Rio de Janeiro's airport from the corruption-tainted Brazilian firm Odebrecht, a government official said. HNA will take over from Odebrecht as the joint holder of a controlling stake in Tom Jobim airport, Brazil's second busiest air hub with some 17 million passengers a year.

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Tom Jobim airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It will hold US$8 billion (S$11.14 billion) stake in the airport as one half of a consortium along with Singaporean firm Changi Airports International.

"HNA is building a travel and leisure giant, focused on Chinese travelers, and Dufry would fit into that portfolio perfectly," said Jon Cox, head of European consumer equities at Kepler Cheuvreux. "It will probably also take a look at trying to open up the the mainland China market for duty free, which is currently controlled by local companies."

Dufry shares were up 0.5 per cent in early trading in Zurich.

HNA, controlled by billionaire Chen Feng, has been on an acquisition spree over the past year. The company has grown out of Hainan Airlines and has diversified into insurance, ship repairs and logistics.

Recent HNA investments include a US$1 billion deal for Singapore-based logistics provider CWT, a 25 per cent stake in hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Holdings, a US$6.1 billion deal for all shares of information technology hardware and software distributor Ingram Micro and asset manager SkyBridge Capital.

Dufry, which opened continental Europe's first duty-free shop in 1952 in Paris, has become the world's largest travel-retail company. Chief executive officer Julian Diaz Gonzalez has led a series of takeovers of rivals including World Duty Free in past years.

GIC and investment firm Temasek together with the Qatar Investment Authority each committed as much as 450 million francs to help fund Dufry's acquisition of Italian rival World Duty Free in 2015.

Temasek owns 8.6 per cent of Dufry, GIC 7.8 per cent and QIA 6.9 per cent, according to the Dufry's annual report.


http://www.straitstimes.com/busines...es-17-stake-in-swiss-duty-free-operator-dufry

@Mista @sinait @Offshore
 
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Sinopec to buy interest in SECCO from BP for $1.68 billion
By Zheng Xin | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-04-27


Asia's largest refiner Sinopec has agreed to purchase a 50 percent stake in the Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited from BP, the company announced on Thursday evening.

Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), has agreed to buy the 50 percent stake for $1.68 billion.

ECCO is currently owned by BP (50 percent), SINOPEC (30 percent) and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (20 percent), in which Sinopec holds a majority interest.

After the acquisition, ECCO will be owned by Sinopec (30 percent), Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (20 percent) and Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd (50 percent).

According to Sinopec, the company planned to spend 200 billion yuan between last year and 2020 to form four "world-class" integrated refining and chemical production bases in Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhenhai in Zhejiang province, and Maoming and Zhanjiang in western Guangdong province.

The petrochemical company in Shanghai will boost the company’s refining performance in the Shanghai region, it said.

Vice chairman Dai Houliang said the overall refining and chemical capacity of the company will be maintained, amid industry-wide over-capacity.

SECCO is a major producer of olefins, polymers and other derivatives including polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile styrene, polystyrene, butadiene and other products, according to its website.

The transaction is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and other conditions, and is expected to be completed before end of year.
 
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China's JD.com may make a play for Indonesia's Tokopedia
Tracy Maple | May 2, 2017

The Chinese e-commerce giant aims to expand its presence in Southeast Asia as rival Alibaba does too.


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(Bloomberg)—JD.com Inc., Alibaba’s fiercest rival in Chinese e-commerce, is in talks to make a major investment in Indonesia’s PT Tokopedia to speed its expansion into Southeast Asia’s largest economy, people familiar with the matter said.

JD, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2016 China 500, is in early-stage negotiations to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in one of Indonesia’s largest online marketplaces, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deal is private. JD’s potential investment may propel Jakarta-based Tokopedia past $1 billion in valuation, another person familiar with the deal said.

A successful deal with Tokopedia will take JD’s competition with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Indonesia, an oil-rich country of 260 million that’s experiencing a surge in smartphone usage and middle class affluence. It would be buying into a local ally ahead of a potential push into the region by Amazon.com Inc., No. 1 in the just-released Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500 Analysis Report. China’s two biggest e-commerce players have both poured major sums into Southeast Asia, capped by Alibaba’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Lazada Group SA last year. Lazada is No. 159 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Asia 500.

Unlike Alibaba and fellow Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., JD has tended to grow its business organically, relying on its own networks of shippers and delivery-people to control quality and service. The Beijing-based company, backed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., had likewise chosen to build its Indonesian business from scratch. Wal-Mart is No. 3 in the Top 500 and No. 7 in the Asia 500.

However, Alibaba’s Lazada has rapidly expanded operations around Southeast Asia over the past year, most recently via a tie-up with Netflix and Uber in Singapore. And Amazon is expected to orchestrate a big expansion into Indonesia and elsewhere, triggering a wave of industry consolidation, according to a recent report by Macquarie Research. Indonesia alone as an e-commerce market is expected to climb to $65 billion by 2020 from just $8 billion now, according to the report.

JD spokesman Josh Gartner declined to comment. Tokopedia officials weren’t immediately available to comment.

Tokopedia was co-founded by William Tanuwijaya, the son of a factory worker, in 2009. The business model is similar to that of Alibaba’s online emporium, matching customers with merchants instead of selling products from its own shelves. It raised a then-record $100 million funding round from SoftBank Group Corp. and Sequoia Capital in 2014, heralding Indonesia’s coming-of-age as a bona fide destination for technology investment.

The company has never disclosed its valuation. Go-Jek, which started out as a motorcycle-hailing service in Jakarta before branching out to add other on-demand services like food delivery, became the country’s first startup valued at more than $1 billion last year when it raised $550 million led by Warburg Pincus and KKR & Co.

https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/...com-may-make-a-play-for-indonesias-tokopedia/
 
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China's Global Renewable Energy Expansion
January 2017

This report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) examines 30 corporate case studies to explore China’s rising global leadership in the low-carbon-emission energy industry. The extent of China’s domestic investment in renewables has surpassed all expectations, with the resulting technology development and economies of scale driving down costs to the point where renewables are exceeding grid parity in an increasing number of market segments. In renewables, China is now actively pursuing a “Going Global” strategy, particularly in conjunction with its “One Belt, One Road” program, which aims for a Pan-Asia development approach; 2015 saw eight foreign investment decisions by Chinese firms exceeding US$1 billion each and worth a total of US$20bn. In 2016, the total foreign investment in deals exceeding US$1bn each rose 60% year on year (yoy) to US$32bn across eleven transactions by Chinese firms. IEEFA expects this trend to accelerate in 2017. A change in leadership in the U.S. is likely to widen China’s global leadership in industries of the future, building China’s dominance in these sectors in terms of technology, investment, manufacturing and employment.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

China is the world leader in domestic investment in renewable energy and associated low-emissions-energy sectors. China invested US$103bn in this sector in 2015, up 17% yoy, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)—two and half times the amount undertaken by the U.S.

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According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China will install 36% of all global hydro electricity generation capacity from 2015-2021. Similarly, China will install 40% of all worldwide wind energy and 36% of all solar in this same period. Given that the rapidly improving cost competitiveness of renewable energy is driving expansions of renewable energy capacity in an ever-increasing number of countries around the globe—in Europe, India, the Middle East, Latin America, and North America—and given that multibillion-dollar renewable energy tenders are being announced weekly, China is performing no small feat by being responsible for over a third of all investment across the three sectors.

Five of the world’s six largest solar-module manufacturing firms in 2016 are in China. At a time when First Solar of the U.S. has announced it will retrench 25% of its global staff, China National Building Materials (CNBM) is building a US$1.6bn 1.5GW thin-film solar module facility. CNBM clearly seeks to challenge First Solar’s absolute dominance of this subsector. Dow Chemical U.S.’s decision in 2016 to sack 2,500 staff and exit the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar manufacturing sector will only assist CNBM’s move.

On the wind front, Goldwind, a Chinese company, overtook Vestas in 2015 to become the largest wind-turbine manufacturer globally. Counting its more domestic-focussed companies, which included United Power, Ming Yang, Envision and CSIC, China owns five of the ten top wind-turbine manufacturing firms.

China’s Tianqi Lithium is the largest lithium ion manufacturer globally following its acquisition of Talison Lithium in 2012 and Galaxy’s Jiangsu processing facility in 2015. It comes as no surprise to see Tianqi spending US$2.5bn in September 2016 to acquire a 25% minority stake in SQM of Chile, the world’s fourth-largest lithium firm. Lithium prices skyrocketed in 2016 as the world recognised electric vehicles (EV) are set to challenge the historic dominance of the global automotive sector by internal-combustion engines. While Tesla attracts Western media attention, its global lithium ion battery and EV leadership is being challenged by two Chinese firms, BYD and CATL.

Chinese leadership and control of the global lithium sector is developing along the lines of the rare-element mining and processing sector, which is now 90% and 72% controlled respectively by Chinese enterprises after the financial collapse of Molycorp US in 2015.

State Grid Corp of China (SGCC) is the world’s largest electricity utility, employing over 1.9 million staff and generating annual sales of US$330bn. In 2012, SGCC set a target for US$50bn of foreign investments by 2020. As of 2015, SGCC had invested US$30bn of that amount, including in three separate multi-billion dollar transactions in Brazil and Pakistan. SGCC made the largest renewable energy and electricity distribution deal of 2016 in the US$13bn acquisition of a controlling stake in Brazil’s CPFL Energia SA. International grid connectivity is a key priority of SGCC.

China Three Gorges Corp (CTGC) commissioned the world’s largest hydro-electric facility at 22.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2012—a project with almost 20 times the Hoover Dam’s 1.35GW capacity. In 2016, CTGC now operates 60GW of electricity capacity. With PowerChina, it dominates global investment and construction of hydro-electric dams.

In 2014, a consortium of industrial partners including EDF, AREVA, China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) committed to invest in the £16bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the U.K. China is now the world leader in technology control and investment in new installations of nuclear power generation. While nuclear power is neither renewable nor low-cost and fast to implement, this investment illustrates the breadth of China’s export investment focus across the energy system.

China’s alternative energy industry has been developing rapidly, while applications of green-and-smart energy have become the focus of the world. In a series of government development policies for “Going Global” that include “One Belt, One Road”, the “Silk Road Fund,” the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” and the “Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor,” international renewable energy investment has become a key focus for China.

Investment and employment of course go together. The IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2016 estimates that China holds 3.5 million of the 8.1 million renewable energy jobs globally.

Chinese institutional investment assets under management rose by 500% from 2005-2015, from US$1.1trillion to US$7.1 trillion. This makes China the second or third-largest institutional investment market globally, and its presence in this space is expected to increase to US$10 trillion by 2020. The fact that only 2% of the current total is invested offshore is a key statistic: If China increases this ratio to 10% by 2020, it would amount to US$1 trillion of new foreign investment.

China has led the development of the Asia Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank. When combined with the US$40bn Silk Road Fund and the foreign investment capacity of the China Import Export Bank, the China Development Bank et al, China is clearly building the financial capacity to drive M&A and to fund follow-up capital expenditure programs required to drive electricity-sector transformations across Asia, Africa and South America.

Read the full 46-pages report at http://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads...l-Renewable-Energy-Expansion_January-2017.pdf
 
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Chinese property dealer buys London skyscraper
By Chen Xia
China.org.cn, May 3, 2017

CC Land Holdings, a Hong-Kong listed property dealer, released details of its acquisition deal of one of the tallest buildings in the City of London in a notice on Monday.

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Cheung Chung Kiu, chairman of CC Land Holdings. [File photo]



According to the notice, Green Charm Investments, a subsidiary wholly owned by CC Land, entered an agreement in March to acquire 100 percent of the interests in the Leadenhall Building for nearly 1.14 billion pounds (10.1 billion yuan).

Together with the interests, the company also took over its liabilities, which was assessed to be 12.7 million pounds.

This is the most expensive property deal in Britain since 2014.

Widely known as the Cheesegrater because of its shape, the Leadenhall Building was valued at 1.15 billion pounds on March 31. The building's annual rental fees were about 402 million pounds.

The 224-meter-high skyscraper was built in 2010 and opened in 2014, with a cost of 286 million pounds.

Besides the Leadenhall, CC Land has also acquired the One Kingdom Street in London's West End for 290 million pounds and owns 34.55 percent of the interests of an eight-story office building in Sydney, Australia, which cost 122 million HK dollars.

While making substantial investments overseas, CC Land has offloaded almost all property projects in western China over the last two years, according to the company's 2016 annual report.

Amid the rapid overseas expansion, the company has seen significant losses in revenue. By the end of 2016, the total value of CC Land was 14.64 billion HK dollars, with its revenue dropping 83 percent year-on-year to 1.13 billion HK dollars, the report showed.

The company announced its shift from the Chinese property market to the global market in its 2016 annual report.
 
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HNA Group Co., the Chinese aviation-to-hotels conglomerate, increased its stake in Deutsche Bank AG to almost 10 percent, overtaking Blackrock Inc. as the top shareholder in Europe’s largest investment bank.

HNA’s holding in Germany’s biggest bank rose to 9.92 percent, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday by investment entities acting on HNA’s behalf. The conglomerate initially reported a 3 percent stake in Deutsche Bank in February, saying at the time that it may increase its holding, while intending to remain below 10 percent. It disclosed a stake of almost 4.8 percent in March.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer John Cryan is focusing his attention on returning the lender to growth after grappling with losses resulting from legal probes and misconduct charges. Last month, the bank sold an additional 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) of shares to bolster capital after abandoning an earlier plan to sell its Postbank unit.

To read about HNA becoming a major shareholder in February, click here

HNA’s voting rights in Deutsche Bank are formally held by a vehicle structured by Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat Investment AG. Alexander Schuetz, the CEO of C-Quadrat, has been nominated to join Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board after a confirmation vote of the bank’s annual general meeting on May 18.

Spokesmen for Deutsche Bank and C-Quadrat declined to comment.

Blackrock’s Stake
HNA’s holding surpasses BlackRock’s 5.9 percent investment, which had been the largest stake in Deutsche Bank according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Chinese conglomerate has spent $30 billion on deals over the past year.

Chen, who two decades ago walked the aisle of his startup Hainan Airlines Co.’s lone airplane serving refreshments, has struck deals from Australia to Switzerland in the past two years as he expands his empire beyond aviation and hotels. In 1995, Chen flew to New York and persuaded George Soros to invest $25 million in his fledgling airline, which now has a market value of $8.1 billion.

Last month, HNA agreed to purchase 16.8 percent of Dufry, a stake with a market value of about 1.44 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion).

To read David Fickling’s column on HNA’s purchases, click here.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...inese-backer-said-to-boost-stake-to-almost-10
 
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