China Roundup: Alibaba leads race to buy indebted chip maker for $7.8b, and more (Updated)

Update (November 17, 7:10 p.m. SGT): Adds news on Tsinghua Unigroup

Alibaba leads race to buy indebted chipmaker for US$7.8 billion

• A consortium led by Alibaba Group is well positioned to buy out Tsinghua Unigroup. The well-funded ecommerce giant’s bid to acquire the debt-ridden chipmaker could offer potential synergies in the former’s cloud and semiconductor businesses.
• The deal may keep the semiconductor producer alive, having been ordered by a court to manage its debt.
• The sale of Tsinghua is expected to be completed by December, but the price and its acquirer are yet to be determined.

Music streaming app Cloud Village revives IPO plan

• Cloud Village, the music streaming unit of gaming firm NetEase, has resubmitted its initial public offering prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, after it paused its listing process in August.
• The company is reportedly aiming to raise US$500 million, down from an initially targeted US$1 billion IPO.
• Launched in 2013, Cloud Village has 185 million monthly users, and it posted a revenue of 3.2 billion yuan (around US$500 million) in the first half of 2021.

China to relax ban on gaming licenses

• A local newspaper reported that the government may start granting new gaming licenses by the end of November. The industry’s regulator has not released a list of approved game titles since July.
• Several executives of local gaming companies also expressed their confidence that the government will start releasing new gaming licenses within weeks.
• The potential relaxation on gaming licenses boosted the stock prices of several gaming firms, including Tencent and NetEase.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.39 yuan