Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Renren

Expedia Acquires eLong From Renren

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:19:23 +0000

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has acquired eLong, Inc. from Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN). Expedia bought eLong for approximately $72.4 million ($23 per ADS). Expedia is the largest online travel company and Renren is a leading social networking company in China.

“We’re pleased to have an opportunity to increase our investment in eLong as we see China as a key market in our efforts to expand internationally,” stated Expedia President and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. “We have been very happy with the strategic and operational progress made by eLong and look forward to many more years of success.”

Renren and eLong will continue working on joint initiatives including the Nuomi hotel group buy. eLong, Inc. (NASDAQ:LONG) is a leading online travel, hotel, and flight booking website in China.

Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg Disagree About Doing Business In China

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:40:04 +0000

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg are in disagreement about getting Facebook into China. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is “wary about he compromises the company would need to make to do businesses in China,” wrote Bloomberg’s Brad Stone in a profile of Sandberg.

However Zuckerberg believes that Facebook can be an agent of change in China. Nothing is decided yet about whether Facebook will enter China as the company has a long term perspective on it.

While Facebook is mulling over the decision, their Chinese competitor Renren is the most used social network in the Asian country. As a matter of fact, Renren recently had an IPO and is now valued at about $5.16 billion on the U.S. stock exchange.

Chinese Social Network Renren Went Public Today, Hoping To Raise $743.3 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:37:00 +0000

Renren Inc (NYSE:RENN) is the largest social network in China based on pageviews. The company is hoping to raise $743.4 million as they went public today. Renren is offering 53.1 million American depositary receipts for about $12-$14 each. Renren may have a market value of around $5.1 billion. Renren means “everyone” in Chinese. They have over 117 million users. Renren was able to gain traction as Facebook has been banned in China. [BusinessWeek]

Chinese Social Network Renren Files For U.S. IPO Under The Symbol “RENN”

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 04:11:07 +0000

In late February I wrote about how Chinese Facebook clone Renren.com has filed for an IPO in the U.S. Some additional details about the IPO has been disclosed now. Renren.com plans on raising up to $573.1 million in the IPO.

Renren.com is owned by Oak Pacific Interactive. Renren has about 117 million registered users and just like Facebook, there is location-sharing, a “like” feature, and status updates. Renren.com and some of their shareholders are offering 52.1 million American Depository Shares (ADS) in the U.S. stock market.

Renren.com is expecting their IPO to be priced between $9 and $11 per ADS. Renren.com plans on listing under the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “RENN.” Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Credit Suisse plans on underwriting the IPO.

In 2010, Renren.com made $76.5 million in revenues. They had a net loss of continuing operation of about $61.2 million plus charges.

[Reuters]

Chinese Facebook Clone Renren.com Filing To Go Public In U.S.

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:51:25 +0000

Renren.com is a social networking website based in China that looks almost exactly like Facebook. Renren has hired Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group, and Deutsche Bank AG to advise them on a $500 million expansion plan through an IPO in the U.S.

Renren.com was able to grow quickly because Facebook and Twitter is blocked in China through a web filtering process. Facebook launched a Chinese-language version in 2008, but it was blocked entirely in China. The Chinese government did not explain why Facebook was blocked.

Renren means “everyone” in Chinese and they have over 160 million users. It started one year after Facebook and tens of millions of college students signed up.

[WSJ]

Oak Pacific Interactive, Chinese Company Behind Renren and Nuomi, Is Considering A U.S. IPO

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 23:08:37 +0000

[Renren Screenshot]

Oak Pacific Interactive is a Chinese Internet company that has created the “Facebook of China” called Renren and the “Groupon of China” called Nuomi. Oak hired Creduit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG to underwrite the IPO. The IPO is expected to take place sometime next year. This year there were 35 Chinese IPOs in the U.S, including Youku and DangDang. [Fast Company]

Chinese Facebook Replica Xiaonei Changing Name To Renren In Preparation For Scalability

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:25:41 +0000

Chinese social network Xiaonei.com was bought out by Oak Pacific in October 2006 and even raised $430 million in May 2008. The name Xiaonei translated to “in campus” in the Chinese language. Essentially this limits people to believe that the social network is only limited to college and university students in China. The name Renren actually means “everyone” in Chinese.

Apparently the name change will open up the possibilities for “everyone” to join. Similar to Facebook, the service started only intended for college students but gradually opened up for everyone. Renren is taking the same approach.

Joe Chen of Oak Pacific decided upon the name change and is rumored to be merging the company’s other social networks under the Renren brand. The other social networks include MOP and Kaixin.com. Renren.com used to be a hot web property in 1999, but it went bankrupt in 2001. Then Joe Chen bought the domain name in 2005. Renren was made into a classifieds website in 2006, but then it was shut down again in 2007.