Nov 8, 2019

Chinese digital marketing agency Cue & Co. reportedly prepping U.S. IPO

Dan Primack

Cue & Co., a Chinese digital marketing agency, reportedly hired bankers for a U.S. IPO that could seek to raise upwards of $400 million at a $2 billion valuation.

Why it matters: This is the latest in a flurry of U.S. IPO activity by Chinese companies, reflecting how no one in either country is taking Washington's de-listings threat seriously.

  • Cue was formed in early 2019 when KKR backed a roll-up of four Chinese digital ad agencies. It then raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Anchor Equity Partners and Princeville Global.

The bottom line: "Cue works with Chinese tech companies like ByteDance, Baidu and Tencent to source advertising on their popular Chinese apps like WeChat, Douyin, Jinri Toutiao, and Kuaishou, writes Reuters' Scott Murdoch and Julie Zhu.

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Ina Fried

TikTok looks to downplay its China ties

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

As lawmakers and regulators zero in on issues around Chinese tech companies and U.S. tech companies' ties to China, the longstanding low U.S. profile of Chinese tech brands is beginning to change.

The big picture: Our devices are made in China but our software and services, for the most part, aren't. TikTok is a big exception — and now the video-sharing network is under fire amid concerns over its Chinese ownership and the potential for censorship or risks to user data.

Go deeperArrowNov 20, 2019
Erica Pandey

China's invisible brands

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

American consumers are quite familiar with many of the big-name foreign products — Toyota, Samsung, to name a couple — but brands from China are virtually invisible.

The big picture: Chinese companies doing business in the U.S. are doing their best to hide where they come from. If they're not actively masking their home country, they're certainly not leading with it.

Go deeperArrowNov 21, 2019
Dion Rabouin

Deloitte: China could be a gold mine for asset managers

Adapted from Deloitte; Chart: Axios Visuals

The Chinese government is set to eliminate restrictions on foreign ownership of fund management firms in 2020, opening up major opportunities for U.S. and other global firms to capture potentially trillions of dollars in new assets, according to new research from Deloitte.

Why it matters: The Chinese government has been taking steps in recent years to liberalize its capital markets and attract investment.

Go deeperArrowNov 14, 2019