Category: Baihe

Chinese Singles Economy

Posted on July 4, 2018

Chinese singlesTHE STAR – June 29 – ~200M Chinese, or 14% of China's population, are single, representing a huge market for online dating apps and matchmaking services. Baihe and its sister company Jiayuan face stiff competition from apps such as Zhenai. Together, the three apps boast market shares of ~65%. They became market leaders through innovation. They enable young singles to connect via live streaming, games, anonymous telephone chats and instant messaging widgets. White-collar professionals in first- and second-tier cities make up ~90% of dating app consumers, according to a latest report by iResearch. An industry report predicted that the total market revenue of online dating services will exceed RM28B ($4.2B) by 2025.

by Cheng Yu
See full article at The Star

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Summarized by the IDEA team

China’s 21st Richest Person To Purchase 70% Of Baihe

Posted on May 6, 2018

Baihe.com logo 2017TECHNODE – May 4 – Fosun International chairman and business magnate Guo Guangchang plans to purchase a majority stake in marriage and dating site Baihe.com for just under RMB 4B ($630M). Baihe.com's shareholders entered into an agreement with Yuanhong Investment to sell 869M shares at a price of RMB 4.6 ($0.72) per share. Guo controls 100% of Yuanhong, which will make him a controlling shareholder of Baihe.com when the deal goes through. There has been no indication as to when the purchase will be concluded. In Dec 2015 Baihe acquired rival dating and marriage platform Jiayuan for $250M. The company then reorganized to become the Baihe Jiayaun Network Group in September 2017.

by Christopher Udemans
See full article at Technode

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the IDEA team

Technology Is Changing How China’s Youth Find Love

Posted on April 11, 2018

Dating in chinaTECHNODE.COM – Apr 11 – From Tinder-like Tantan to Momo, to marriage-focussed Baihe, tech companies are taking advantage of increasingly independent young adults. Just under half of China's 1.4B people fall between the ages of 25 and 54 years old. Most are men. Within this total, 200M are unmarried. One study shows that 54M people made use of online dating services in 2016, a number that is expected to increase by 24M, or 45%, by 2022. Baihe was founded in 2005 and claims to have ~100M users. Baihe-owned Jiayuan.com also focuses on marriage-related services. It claims to have ~170M users and operates offline stores in 71 cities. Tantan and Momo are designed for more casual dating. In 2013, the total revenue for the sector was RMB 1.93B. This more than doubled to RMB 4B at the end of 2017 and is expected to reach RMB 5B by 2020. According to researchers, online dating can also have a profound effect on marriage diversity. According to the Center for China and Globalization, the number of foreigners increased by 50% between 2000 and 2013. Additionally, over 1500 foreigners were granted green cards in 2016, a 160% YOY increase. In the same year, the number of cross-cultural marriages swelled by 2.5% in Shanghai.

by Christopher Udemans
See full article at Technode

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Summarized by the IDEA team

China To Ban Citizens With Poor ‘Social Credit’ From Public Transport, Credit Info Shared On Baihe

Posted on March 20, 2018

ChinaV3.CO.UK – Mar 19 – China's government, which has just voted to make President Xi Jinping president for life, is to implement the latest phase of its Social Credit System on 1 May, with citizens with a poor social-credit rating to be banned from planes and trains. China's Social Credit System is coordinated by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms. It mashes together information from the country's social insurance database and the criminal records system, as well as information gleaned online. It is intended to penalise not just citizens who have failed to pay fines or taxes, for example, but also people the government deems guilty of 'spreading false information' and 'causing trouble'. The credit score is also shared with Baihe, one of China's biggest online dating services, which promotes subscribers with good social credit scores.

by Graeme Burton
See full article at V3.co.uk

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PAG Buys Controlling Stake In Zhenai.com

Posted on November 21, 2017

Zhenai logo aug 16SCMP – Nov 21 – PAG Asia Capital, one of Asia's largest investment firms, has closed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Zhenai.com, China's largest online matchmaking and dating service provider. The transaction size was not disclosed. Founded in 2005 by Li Song, a former Morgan Stanley executive director, Zhenai.com now boasts ~140M registered users. It is expected to generate revenues of ~1.6B yuan and a net profit of ~200M yuan ($30M) in 2017, according to the company. This compared to the 51.4M yuan ($7.7M) in 2015 net profit of Jiayuan.com, a major rival of Zhenai. Jiayuan was bought by Baihe.com, another matchmaking website last year, resulting in the country's matchmaking business being mainly split among the three companies.

by Jane Li
See full article at SCMP

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Baihe’s Shares Fall After WePhone Founder’s Suicide

Posted on September 14, 2017

Baihe.com logo 2017SCMP – Sep 13 – The death of Su Xiangmao, 37, sparked online debate about whether dating sites are accountable for verifying users' personal data. Shares of Baihe.com plunged by almost half after its dating site Jiayuan.com was accused of failing to verify personal information about a woman who allegedly drove her ex-husband, a successful technology entrepreneur, to suicide. The stock traded as low as 3.6 yuan, down 48%, on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, China's over-the-counter stock market for start-ups. It later recovered some ground, closing 19% lower at 5.68 yuan.

by Laura He
See full article at SCMP

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Baihe.Com To Launch Wedding M&A Fund With JD Capital

Posted on March 1, 2017

WeddingCHINA MONEY NETWORK – Feb 28 – China's biggest online dating platform Baihe.com plans to establish an investment fund with private equity firm JD Capital to invest in wedding service and wedding related companies to push for industry consolidation via mergers and acquisitions. Baihe.com merged with NASDAQ-listed Jiayuan.com last May. They both now control ~50% of China's online dating market.

by Jillian Yue
See full article at China Money Network

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

VCs Swipe Left On Dating Apps

Posted on February 16, 2017

Venture capital general picTECH CRUNCH – Feb 15 – VC investment in the online dating space declined over the past year, with smaller average rounds and fewer funded companies, according to Crunchbase company profile data. U.S.-based online dating startups saw ~$7M funding in the past 12 months. Globally, disclosed venture, seed and growth funding totaled ~$47M for the past 12 months, down from 280$ in the prior 12 months ($240M went to Baihe). Over the past two years, the largest funding rounds by far for dating startups have gone to Chinese companies.

by Joanna Glasner
See full article at Tech Crunch

Mark Brooks: Now the VC money is drying up dating apps will have to fend for themselves. It's time for profit over growth. 2017 will be a shakeout year.  

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Jiayuan.com Shareholders Approved Merger With Baihe Subsidiaries

Posted on December 30, 2015

Jiayuan baihe logosPR NEWSWIRE – Dec 28 – Jiayuan.com shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the merger with LoveWorld and FutureWorld. Of the 56.7% of ordinary shares voted, 97.5% backed the deal, expected to close in Q1.

See full article at PR Newswire

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Heng Ren Investments Urges Jiayuan.com To Reveal All Bids To Shareholders

Posted on December 10, 2015

Jiayuan screenshot with new logoSTREET INSIDER – Dec 9 – On Dec 7, an agreement was announced between Baihe and Jiayuan.com to buy out shareholders at $7.56 per share, an increase from the previous bid of $7.20 from Vast Profit of Hong Kong. Heng Ren Investments believes this is a positive step in the right direction, but the bid is still 50% below full and fair value of $11.74 per share. Jiayuan.com has admitted it has received multiple buyout bids. Heng Ren urges Jiayuan to disclose to shareholders all the bids it has received.

The full article was originally published at Street Insider, but is no longer available.

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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team