Finance

Big US Companies with Chinese Investors

The interest of Chinese Companies to invest in the United States is no longer a secret. In fact, this has been an on-going topic of the US administration then and now, to protect the market from getting monopolized by Chinese companies. Though boosting the manufacturing sector of the United States is a positive move for the US to become more competitive to China, this still leaves an open to China to get ahead by buying out or at the very least, buy a huge share from companies that are originally Americans.

At the end of the day, money does talk and whoever has the funding will probably get it his way. Currently, there are several US companies who either have already embraced the presence of US investors or are now in negotiation with Chinese investors. To Name a few: Forbes, Chicago Stock Exchange, and Legendary Entertainment Group.

HNA Group, a multi-billion Chinese company shocked the whole world when they expressed their intention to buy a controlling stake in one of the most respected Business News Publisher, Forbes Magazine. It is drastically different enough to have a foreign investor take a controlling stake in the company; it is even more surprising and intriguing at the same time for that to be Chinese Company. In addition, it was also reported that HNA is not the only Chinese company eyeing for that bid.

There is another one unnamed. Regardless, if the stake is sold to either of the two companies, this will potentially rattle Americans as giving up a part of the US news publishing company is so symbolic and impactful to the American’s daily life. If Chinese investors can make their way into Forbes, they are also very much equipped to take control of other news organizations which play a huge role in information dissemination regarding sensitive issues such as the US-China Politics, the Nanking Massacre, the US-China Manufacturing Competitiveness, so on and so forth.

Chicago Stock Exchange also raised some questions about the deal they are making with the Chinese Company: Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group. Although the exact price of the deal was not disclosed, it was given an estimate of a hundred million dollars by Bloomberg. The deal faced its first challenge with the US Committee on Foreign Investment. It was able to overcome the situation despite some opposition from the US Congress.

In this case, the deal will most likely push through, giving opportunities to more Chinese companies to enter the US market. Though no ties between the said company and the Chinese Government was revealed, the Chinese Government is well known to have a close relationship with their private sector and the possibility of a connection between the two entities may not be totally impossible.

Some Chinese investors are also interested in the entertainment industry. The Dalian Wanda Group purchased the famous and leading US theater chain, AMC. The acquisition was done at a price of 2.6 Billion USD last 2012. Years after, in 2016, the same group acquired the Legendary Entertainment Group (LEG) for 3.5 Billion USD after being rejected by Paramount Pictures in another proposed deal.

As such, the group also contributed to the funding of the famous movie “Jurassic World” which became a huge blockbuster hit. The Dalian Wanda Group initially wanted to make their newly acquired entertainment company be one of their conglomerates but also decided to postpone this structure and let LEG be operated as an independent entity. Because Chinese investors are becoming more and more aggressive, whether ordinary people are aware or not, they are already contributing to the wealth and success of these companies. They have in some ways financed the products that are available and people around the globe are enjoying today.

Douglas Carl
the authorDouglas Carl