"China Economic Weekly" reporter Sun Bing | Beijing report
started to rise one after another 10 years ago. The "big factory CVC" (Corporate Venture Capital, namely corporate venture capital fund ) from leading Internet companies has always been the most active figure in the venture capital field. Until 2021, they still occupied almost half of venture capital.
But in 2022, the pace of foreign investment of large factories has slowed down significantly, from the past "buy, buy, buy" to "sell, sell, sell". The investment direction of large manufacturers has also changed a lot, and it has begun to expand to more hard technology and real economy fields, including intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence , chips, power battery , new materials... Tencent also invested in nursing homes, Alibaba invested in comedy institutions, ByteDance acquired women and children's hospitals...
So, where did the money from leading large manufacturers such as Tencent, Alibaba, Byte, Xiaomi , Baidu flow?
Major manufacturers have contracted investments and are constantly "selling, selling, selling"
According to the "2022 Q2 China New Economy Venture Capital Data Analysis Report" released by venture capital data service provider IT Orange, in the first half of 2022, there were 2,786 investment events in the domestic new economy field, a decrease of 636 from the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 18.59%; the total amount of domestic investment transaction events in the first half of 2022 exceeded 427.5 billion yuan, a decrease of 217.6 billion yuan from the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 38.05%.
, especially the investment pace of leading manufacturers has slowed down significantly after entering 2022. Data from Tianyancha also shows that from January to August this year, Tencent's foreign investment amounted to about 80, while in the same period last year it was about 210; ByteDance's foreign investment amounted to about 20 from January to August this year, and in the same period last year it was about 50; Alibaba only sold about 10 from January to August this year, and in the same period last year it was about 30; Xiaomi's 40 from January to August this year, and in the same period last year it was about 65.
also reported on the Internet that strategic investment departments such as Tencent and Alibaba have made significant layoffs, and ByteDance has been rumored to have removed the entire strategic investment department. Although these news has not been confirmed in the official caliber, it has also caused widespread discussion.
In addition to the shrinking investment, the large companies that people used to have used to "buy, buy, buy" everywhere, and have also become "sell, sell, sell".
Take Tencent, which once invested in enterprises with a scale of more than one trillion yuan as an example. As of now, Tencent has successively sold its stocks in the secondary market of HaiLan Home , JD , Zhihu , Sea Limited, New Oriental Online , BBK , Huayi Brothers and other companies.
htmlOn August 16, Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Tencent plans to sell all or most of equity in Meituan , with a market value of about US$24 billion. This is just rumored news, which caused Meituan's stock price to plunge by more than 10%, and its market value was "scared" by hundreds of billions. Although Tencent said that the rumors were false, other "Tencent-based" companies such as Kuaishou, Pinduoduo, Bilibili, Beike , China Literature, WeMall still experienced stock price fluctuations. It can be seen that the reason why the market "guilty" rumors is based on expectations that Tencent will continue to "sell, sell, sell".According to the 2021 financial report released by Tencent Holdings (00700.HK), when the growth of the main business encountered a bottleneck, the investment income increased by 162% year-on-year, contributing 65% of the total profit. This is the first time in Tencent's history that investment income exceeded the profit of its main business.
But this year, Tencent’s second quarter financial report for 2022 just released on August 17 showed that as of June 30, the equity of Tencent’s listed investment company (excluding subsidiaries) held by Tencent was 601.9 billion yuan. At the end of last year, this figure was 982.8 billion yuan, a decrease of about 380 billion yuan in half a year.
According to Dealogic statistics, from 2015 to 2021, Alibaba made an average of more than 40 foreign investments per year, and even reached 70 during the peak period in 2018, with a total investment of up to US$54 billion. In 2021, although Alibaba still maintained 38 investments, the total investment amount was only about US$6 billion.
But by 2022, as of now, Alibaba has only made 11 investments, of which the largest investment is only a scale of billions of yuan. In addition, according to public information, in addition to reducing investment, Alibaba has also withdrawn from partial or all investments in Light Media, Mango Super Media , 36Kr , Caixin Media , Boya World, etc.
Investments of major manufacturers are turning, where are they "regulating their positions"?
While investment slows down, the investment strategies of large manufacturers are also changing. Compared with the shrinking investment, many industry insiders in the investment circle told reporters that they prefer to express these actions of large manufacturers as "replacing positions."
"The uncertainty in the global market has been very high recently. In addition to factors such as the epidemic and regulatory changes, it is a very rational and normal choice for large companies to hold on to more cash and then wait for an opportunity to act. And judging from the projects they have withdrawn, most of them have reached the time to withdraw." An investor from a leading investment institution commented. He also revealed to the reporter of China Economic Weekly that not only large companies, but also leading investment institutions are "regulating positions" from the Internet to hard technology.
The data from IT Orange also confirms this. Against the backdrop of policy orientation leading capital to the development of hard technology, advanced manufacturing, medical and health, enterprise service has become the most popular tracks favored by capital.
major factory CVC also gathers here. Take Tencent as an example. After reducing its holdings in JD.com, Tencent once stated that it will continue to explore new tracks and new opportunities in the future, especially cutting-edge technology and the digitalization of the real economy.
So, in the first half of 2022, Tencent frequently took action in intelligent manufacturing, enterprise services and other fields, and successively invested in one-stop real-time data fusion service platform DataPipeline, artificial intelligence technology application company Wuzhi Intelligent, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solution provider Yingdao RPA, digital audio technology solution supplier Panoramic Technology, DPU (Data Processing Unit, data processor) chip and solution supplier Yunbao Intelligent...
In addition, Tencent's investment scenarios are also constantly extending. For example, it has invested in two new energy companies, namely, perovskite solar module supplier GCL Optoelectronics, new energy storage devices and PACK integrated system research and development manufacturer Juwan Technology Research, and even invested in a nursing home, namely Fushoukang, the largest home medical care service in China.
Alibaba's investment direction is also becoming "hard". In the first half of this year, the Alibaba Group successively invested in Yikeyuan, Tairuo Technology, Zhongke Microneedle, Faao Robot, Ruili Integrated Circuit, Changxin Storage , Jida Transportation, etc. Of course, new consumer brands are also continuing to pay attention, such as smart pet feeders Homan, Senbao Building Blocks, etc.
In addition, Alibaba also invested in the international shipping cross-border e-commerce platform Hai Guanjia, as well as the Dan Liren comedy with Zhou Qimo , Shi Boss, and Liuzun.
ByteDance has made frequent moves in the direction of medical health and meta-universe. In June this year, ByteDance achieved a wholly-owned holding , a high-end women and children medical group Meizhong Yihe, through its big health business brand Xiaohe, with the market rumored that the amount of mergers and acquisitions was about 10 billion yuan.
Mei Zhongyihe Medical was established in 2006. It is a private medical institution that can provide obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, assisted reproduction, postpartum rehabilitation, postpartum restoration and other services. Previously, the US-China Yihe also obtained assisted reproductive qualifications in Beijing and Tianjin through the acquisition of Beijing Baodao Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.
In fact, in the past two years, ByteDance has been making continuous moves in the field of medical and health care, and has successively acquired the production and dissemination platform of encyclopedia doctors, Internet hospital Yao Ze Er Si Technology, comprehensive medical institution Pinecon Medical, etc.
The related fields of the Yuan Universe are also important directions for ByteDance. In the first half of this year, ByteDance acquired the two-dimensional virtual social platform Wave Particle Technology. In addition, ByteDance also acquired the comic reading platform "Manji", the movie ticketing service platform "Xintopia" and the code-free manufacturer "Heipayun".
Baidu's investment focus in the first half of this year was on chips and medical health, including AI protein design platform Molecular Heart, molecular glue targeted protein degradation technology and new drug developer Dage Biologics, DPU chip developer Nebula Zhilian, MRAM and related chip design developer Gencun Technology, etc.
Meituan is also different from the previous investment in "eating, drinking and having fun". It has begun to lay out hard technology, investing in future robots, single-photon sensor chip developer Lingming Photonics, and wall-climbing robots, developer Shihe Technology, etc. Xiaomi's investment goals include integrated circuits, new energy, new materials, etc. Xiaomi's Industrial Investment Department recently revealed that from June 2018 to the present, Xiaomi has invested in nearly 100 chip companies.
The aforementioned investors believe that under the international and domestic macroeconomic environment, especially the regulatory pressure of anti-monopoly and anti-capital disorderly expansion, Internet giants choose to continue to lose weight, return to their main business, and increase long-term R&D investment are all foreseeable choices. However, he believes that Tencent, Alibaba, Byte, and Xiaomi will still exist in the future, but the "people in the game" will change to a new face.
Editor | Guo Jiyao
(Copyright belongs to China Economic Weekly Magazine. No media, website or individual may reprint, excerpt, link, repost or use it in other ways without authorization.)
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