Xiaomi’s Private Financing

choi

(1) 蒂姆•布拉德肖 理查德•沃特斯 乔希•诺布尔, 小米接近融资15亿美元. 金融时报, Nov 7, 2014
www.ftchinese.com/story/001059023

My comment:
(a) This chinese report APPEARS to be a translation of (2), but it is not--at least the 接近 aspect, the most critical aspect.
(b) Even though the translation was dated "Nov 7, 2014," I did not see it yesterday in the home page of www.ftchinese.com, which (the home page), moreover, affixes "new" next to the title of the translation. The combination leads me to believe the translation is in fact published today (Nov 9).
(c) Try as I may, I can not find a news report in ENGLISH that says 接近, not even an update since Friday, Nov 7.

choi

(2) Tim Bradshaw, Richard Waters and Josh Noble, Xiaomi to Be Valued Above $40bn in Fund Raising. Financial Times, Nov 7, 2014.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2995254e-662c-11e4-a454-00144feabdc0.html

Quote:

(a) Xiaomi's raising $1.5b is "the largest private financing for a venture-backed company since Facebook in 2011.

(b) "Negotiations with investors including DST – the Russian internet company that also backed Alibaba, Facebook and Airbnb – are yet to be finalised, according to people familiar with the discussions. But if completed, the deal would propel the four-year-old Chinese company to the top tier of the global technology industry at a valuation exceeding that of Sony and Lenovo put together.

(c) "The private stake sale would also price Xiaomi at more than double Silicon Valley’s most richly valued private company, Uber, which raised $1.2bn at a $17bn valuation this summer.

"According to CB Insights, which tracks private financings, a $1.5bn capital injection would match Facebook’s 2011 fundraising, which valued the social network at $50bn in its last round before it went public, as the largest amount ever raised by a venture-backed company.

"Both Wall Street and Silicon Valley investors are largely sidelined in the fundraising for the latest Chinese technology sensation after Alibaba * * * Instead Xiaomi is hoping to secure funds from Asia-based investors.

My comment: CNBC on the same day republished this FT report.
www.cnbc.com/id/102162984

choi

(3) Tim Bradshaw and Richard Waters, Start-Ups Break Through Billion-Dollar Valuation Barrier. Financial Times, Nov 9, 2014 (online publication three hours ago, it is 1 pm, EST; to be in print tomorrow).
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2d2e29ea-67f7-11e4-bcd5-00144feabdc0.html

Quote:

“The tech industry has a new Billion Dollar Club. The label used to have a certain exclusivity when it came to private start-ups. But it no longer seems so selective: more than 40 tech companies have broken through the $1bn valuation barrier

“And Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker that is giving Apple and Samsung a run for their money in Asia and Latin America, is also seeking to raise $1.5bn in a deal that could see it become the world’s most valuable private company, with a price tag of more than $40bn, say people familiar with its plans.

“Those backing the likes of Uber and Xiaomi say that the companies have such extraordinary growth opportunities in front of them that they need to raise huge war chests to seize the moment. * * * Xiaomi’s success in creating cheaper smartphones that approach Apple’s quality of design leaves it well placed to profit from Samsung’s recent challenges. Both have the opportunity to command a global reach and scale that has rarely been seen beyond Google and Facebook.

Note:
(a) title in the home page: Private Investors Pour Billions Into Mobile Internet Growth
(b) This report does not specifically address Xiaomi, but new darlings in general. The graphic of this FT report says it all.

“Tech's New Billion dollar Club[;] Biggest private rounds for venture backed tech companies[:] Facebook (1,500m), Xiaomi-Ongoing (1,500m), Uber (1,200m [June, 2014 and] 1,000m ongoing), Flipcart [‘the Indian ecommerce phenomenon’] (1,000m), groupon (950m), Cloudera (900m)”
(c) The portion of this FT report that concerns Xiaomi is quoted above.
(d) At least a reporter doubts Xiaomi is worthy so much.

Edmond Lococo, Is Xiaomi Really Worth $50 Billion?  Bloomberg, Nov 5, 2014
www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-0 ... th-50-billion-.html
("questionable valuation")