Shares higher as Internet stocks advance

    CHINA’S shares pared early losses to end higher Friday, as investors snapped up Internet stocks after online financial products attracted millions of users during the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.56 percent, or 11.42 points, at 2,044.50. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.61 percent, or 17.42 points, to 1,098.69. China shares opened lower after the holiday, taking cues from losses in global markets earlier in the week. The Shanghai Composite fell as much as 0.9 percent in the morning, only to climb after Internet stocks advanced.

    Google to own US$750m Lenovo stake

    INTERNET search company Google Inc. will own a 5.94 percent stake in China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. worth US$750 million once Lenovo’s deal to buy Google’s Motorola handset division closes, according to a disclosure on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

    Google would take 618.3 million Lenovo shares at US$1.21 per share, the stock exchange said Friday. Lenovo has agreed to buy Google’s Motorola handset division for US$2.91 billion in a cash and stock deal.

    Rundong Auto seeks US$300m in HK listing

    RUNDONG Automobile Group, backed by private equity firm KKR & Co., plans to raise up to US$300 million through a Hong Kong listing in the first half of 2014, the IFR said.

    The car dealership company in eastern China joins a number of mainland peers targeting Hong Kong listings to fund expansion after a pick-up in China’s automobile demand in 2013. KKR invested an undisclosed amount in Rundong Auto in 2010. The Jiangsu Province-based company operates more than 50 dealerships, featuring brands like BMW and Land Rover.

    Luye Pharma plans to raise US$750m in IPO

    LUYE Pharma Group is planning to raise around US$750 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, sources familiar with the matter said, after it delisted from the Singapore stock exchange in 2012.

    The Chinese drug company won’t go public until the second quarter at the earliest, the sources said. The IPO, which is being handled by UBS AG and Citigroup Inc., gives private equity firms CDH Capital, Citic Private Equity and New Horizon Capital the chance to sell some or all of their investments in the pharmaceutical maker.