by Christopher Udemans
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Category: Jiayuan.com
PAG Buys Controlling Stake In Zhenai.com
SCMP – 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
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Chinese Government Tells Dating Websites To Vet Users
SIXTH TONE – Sep 19 – The Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued a joint directive on Monday requiring dating sites to keep a record of their users' real identities. The regulation came nearly two weeks after Jiayuan.com fell under scrutiny for the suicide of tech entrepreneur Su Xiangmao. The 37-year-old founder of the Skype-like app WePhone jumped to his death from his Beijing apartment building earlier this month. In a suicide note he posted online, Su accused his ex-wife, Zhai Xinxin, whom he met through Jiayuan.com, of driving him to despair and desperation.
Baihe’s Shares Fall After WePhone Founder’s Suicide
SCMP – 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
Entrepreneur’s Death Highlights Flaws Of China’s Dating Site Jiayuan.com
ECNS – Sep 13 – Su Xiangmao killed himself Thursday in Beijing after receiving repeated threats from his ex-wife, Zhai Xinxin, who was allegedly demanding from him ~$1.5M and properties from their one-month marriage. The couple met on March 30 on jiayuan.com, got married on June 7 and got a divorce on July 18. Su was the founder of WePhone, an international long-distance call app. It is about to stop operation, a pop-up news on the app reads. People are questioning whether the dating site should be somehow liable for the tragedy. The site said it will cooperate in an ongoing investigation by police.
Jiayuan.com Shareholders Approved Merger With Baihe Subsidiaries
PR 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
Heng Ren Investments Urges Jiayuan.com To Reveal All Bids To Shareholders
STREET 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.
Baihe To Buy Chinese Dating Site Jiayuan
WSJ – Dec 7 – Jiayuan.com International, the largest online dating platform in China, agreed to be bought by Baihe for $7.56 per share in a deal that values the company at ~$250M. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2016. Jiayuan executive Linguang Wu will become co-executive of the new company, which will be changing its name.
by Austen Hufford
See full article at WSJ
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Jiayuan Q3 2015 Financial Results: Net Income Up ~400%
PRNEWSWIRE – Nov 25 – Q3 revenue was $28.7M, up 13% YOY. Net income was $2.3M, a YOY increase of 413.6%. The number of paying users was 1,405,426, compared to 1,522,838 in Q3 2014.
Match Must Use Size To Overcome Challenges Facing Public Dating Services
DEAL REPORTER – Aug 24 – OPW – Aug 24 – As The Match Group moves toward an IPO, it must use its size advantage to overcome the difficulties that have plagued other dating companies that have gone public. FriendFinder traded on NASDAQ and was delisted in 2013 for failing to trade above the USD 1 level. Zoosk filed for an IPO in 2014, intending to raise more than USD 100m, but withdrew the application citing unfavorable market conditions. In the past 2 years, shares of Snap Interactive have not been above the USD 1 mark with stock plunging 85%, and Spark Networks has seen its stock decline 60%, to USD 3.11. Chinese dating firm Jiayuan International has seen its US-listed stock rise 22% in the last year, however, their success is partly a by-product of China's booming economy. "Match's size will be an advantage over other publicly traded dating entities," said Mark Brooks, an industry consultant with Courtland Brooks. Its scale and brand awareness means it probably pays much less to acquire new users. “This is very clearly a game of size,” Brooks asserted, adding that Match.com does not have to pay search giant Google for every new member because it has built a brand through time, helped by TV and radio advertising.
by David B. Wilkerson & Marina Temkin & Louise Bleakley
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