ZURICH/SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) – Nestle , the world’s biggest food company, agreed to take a 60 percent stake in China’s Yinlu Foods Group for an undisclosed price, becoming the latest multinational to target China’s fast-growing food and beverage sector.

Family-owned Yinlu had sales of about 750 million Swiss francs ($839.6 million) in 2010, Nestle said in a statement on Monday. Nestle did not disclose financial details of the deal and said it was subject to regulatory approval in China.

Yinlu, from China’s southeastern Fujian province, is known for its peanut milk and instant porridge products.

Analysts said the deal is most likely to be approved because Yinlu operates in a niche segment of the market despite being a brand with a large regional presence.

In 2009, China’s regulators killed Coca Cola’s bid to buy well-known juice maker China Huiyuan Juice Group for $2.4 billion, on monopoly concerns.

Huiyuan’s 2010 revenue was smaller than Yinlu’s at 3.71 billion yuan ($568 million).

“There is a decent chance the deal with get approved because it is not a complete takeover. But there will still be some regulatory scrutiny because right now the government is wary of foreign companies making too much money here,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co broke ground on its long-awaited Shanghai Disneyland theme park in China’s financial hub on Friday, banking on new attractions to draw millions of visitors and boost its profits in the region.

The Mickey and Minnie Mouse duo kicked off the fanfare dressed in traditional Chinese garb to a cacophony of drums, launching a Magic Kingdom-style park tailored specifically to China.

Disney’s first theme park in mainland China and its third in Asia will cost an initial 24.5 billion yuan ($3.7 billion).

Disney has long sought to build in Shanghai, a wealthy city of about 20 million that is ringed by the prosperous Yangtze River Delta, home to tens of millions more potential visitors.

“Our Shanghai resort will be a world-class family vacation destination that combines classic Disney characters and storytelling with the uniqueness and beauty of China,” Robert Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney Co, said in a statement.

“Working with our Chinese partners, the Shanghai Disney Resort will be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese,” he said. The park will include an interactive castle unique to Shanghai Disneyland.

Situated in an eastern suburb of Shanghai, the park aims to attract 7.3 million visitors annually when it opens in about five years, the Shanghai government has said.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Baidu Inc, China’s top search engine, will launch a licensed music search service in May, in a move to legitimize its current music search that critics say enables music piracy.

Baidu will launch Baidu Ting sometime in May, said Kaiser Kuo, a Baidu spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. The service will allow users to stream, download, create libraries of licenced music and will have a social-networking aspect.

Music piracy in China has cost record labels hundreds of millions in profits. Most of the music available through Baidu’s current Mp3 search service is copyright infringing.

“Our members want to partner with and invest in China’s digital revolution, but they cannot do so while the music service run by the dominant Internet company, Baidu, facilitates infringement of the rights of artists and creators online,” said International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a body representing record companies globally, in a letter to the Financial Times last month.

Baidu is the dominant search provider in China with more than 70 percent of the market by revenue.

Last week, Baidu said it reached an agreement with the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) to pay fees to MCSC for every song downloaded using Baidu Ting. The licenced music service will be supported by advertising.

The agreement covers publishing rights and Baidu will compensates lyricists and composers through MCSC. The firm is still working toward a more comprehensive agreement that will cover performance rights as well.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s largest business-to-consumer website 360buy.com said on Friday it has raised a whopping $1.5 billion from a diverse group of investors in its latest round of financing, in preparation for an initial public offering in 2013.

360buy’s latest fundraising comes at a boom time in China’s e-commerce industry that is set to grow at high double digit rates over the next two years, as rising incomes across China boost consumer spending and the number of Internet users soar.

360buy, which sells branded electronics goods online, said Russian Internet investment group Digital Sky Technologies had put in $500 million. News of DST’s investment was first reported by the Financial Times.

DST has invested in social networking website Facebook and discount-buying website Groupon.

“With regard to the rapid development of 360buy and China’s e-commerce industry, this round of fundraising will have a very meaningful impact on that,” Liu Qiangdong, chief executive of 360buy, said in a statement.

360buy said that Tiger Fund had also invested in the firm. In December, 360buy confirmed that it had secured $500 million in funding from six strategic partners including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The company has received $1.1 billion of the funds.

SHANGHAI, April 1 (Reuters) – China’s largest business-to-consumer website 360buy.com said on Friday it has raised a whopping $1.5 billion from a diverse group of investors in its latest round of financing, in preparation for an initial public offering in 2013.

360buy’s latest fundraising comes at a boom time in China’s e-commerce industry that is set to grow at high double digit rates over the next two years, as rising incomes across China boost consumer spending and the number of Internet users soar.

360buy, which sells branded electronics goods online, said Russian Internet investment group Digital Sky Technologies had put in $500 million. News of DST’s investment was first reported by the Financial Times. [ID:nL3E7EU09V]

DST has invested in social networking website Facebook and discount-buying website Groupon.

“With regard to the rapid development of 360buy and China’s e-commerce industry, this round of fundraising will have a very meaningful impact on that,” Liu Qiangdong, chief executive of 360buy, said in a statement.

360buy said that Tiger Fund had also invested in the firm. In December, 360buy confirmed that it had secured $500 million in funding from six strategic partners including Wal-Mart Stores Inc . [ID:nTOE6BN03K]

The company has received $1.1 billion of the funds.

SHANGHAI, March 29 (Reuters) – China’s Sky-mobi (MOBI.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the country’s leading mobile application developer, sees its topline growth rate increasing at a slower pace than the industry’s this year, as changes to mobile payment hurts the user experience, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Sky-mobi, which makes most of its revenue by selling mobile applications from its application store, recently entered the mobile advertising space via an agreement with one of China’s leading advertising portals, Sohu.com Inc (SOHU.O: Quote, Profile, Research). [ID:nL3E7EN2HP]

The firm also plans to chase tie-ups with other companies and push its community platform, Maopao, where selling virtual items is driving revenue growth.

“Certain parts of our business such as mobile community will be, but overall we will not be growing at that high of a rate,” Carl Yeung, chief financial officer of Sky-mobi, told Reuters in an interview, comparing the firm’s growth rate to China’s mobile Internet market, which he said was delivering annual revenue growth of 100 percent.

Yeung said Chinese operators’ recent decision to switch to double or triple payment verification for the user has cut into revenues as users have to adjust to the new system.

“It’s already getting better, but it will take time for users to fully adapt to double and triple confirmation,” he said.

Analysts say one of Sky-mobi’s greatest challenges is when an established player Internet company such as Baidu (BIDU.O: Quote, Profile, Research) or Tencent Holdings (0700.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) decides to enter the mobile space.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Consumer goods giants Procter & Gamble and Unilever will both raise detergent and soap prices in China by up to 15 percent next month, local media reported, underscoring the battle the government faces with inflation.

Policy makers in the world’s second-largest economy have been racing to contain consumer prices, which rose 4.9 percent in February from a year earlier, to prevent inflationary expectations from settling in and contributing to further rises in the prices of everything from broccoli to beer.

State television on Monday showed images of empty store shelves in some Chinese cities as residents raced to pick up P&G and Unilever products before the price rises went into effect, highlighting the sensitivity to prices of especially poorer Chinese people, who are hit hardest by inflation.

Unilever (ULVR.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (UNc.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) confirmed there will be price rises across its portfolio to offset hikes in raw material costs but did give details after the Shanghai Daily said they would be up to 15 percent. P&G (PG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) could not be reached for comment.

The two companies, which sell a variety of products including shampoo, bath lotion and toothpaste, have a significant portion of the consumer goods market in China.

Anglo-Dutch Unilever has said raw material costs will rise by 4 percent of its turnover in 2011 which analysts calculate as a rise of 12 percent as prices of vegetable oils, crude oil and packaging have risen sharply, but it hopes to offset these by rising its own prices and making cost savings.

Unilever has the highest proportion of sales from emerging countries, at 53 percent, compared to other big consumer goods groups and said it had a particularly strong year in China during 2010 with products such as Omo detergents, Clear and Dove shampoos, Rexona deodorants, Lipton tea and Wall’s ice cream.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Consumer goods giants Procter & Gamble (PG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Unilever (ULVR.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will both raise their prices on detergent and soap in China by up to 15 percent next month, local media reported, underscoring the challenges Beijing faces to rein in inflation.

Policy makers in the world’s second-largest economy have been racing to contain consumer prices, which rose 4.9 percent in February from a year earlier, to prevent inflationary expectations from settling in and contributing to further rises in the prices of everything from broccoli to beer.

State television on Monday showed images of empty store shelves in some Chinese cities as residents raced to pick up P&G and Unilever products before the price rises went into effect, highlighting the sensitivity to prices of especially poorer Chinese people, who are hit hardest by inflation.

Unilever confirmed a report on the price rises by the English-language Shanghai Daily, which had said the rises were on account of rising raw materials costs, but declined to give additional details. P&G could not be reached for comment.

The two companies, which sell a variety of products including shampoo, bath lotion and toothpaste, have a significant portion of the consumer goods market in China according to past statements by executives.

But economists said they did not think the price rises would have a significant impact on the government’s fight against inflation.

“I’m increasingly sure that there has been a lot of monetary policy tightening, and if that’s the case, then inflation will start to come down,” said Paul Cavey, an economist at Macquarie in Hong Kong.

SHANGHAI, March 28 (Reuters) – Consumer goods giants Procter & Gamble and Unilever will both raise their prices on detergent and soap in China by up to 15 percent next month, local media reported, underscoring the challenges Beijing faces to rein in inflation.

Policy makers in the world’s second-largest economy have been racing to contain consumer prices, which rose 4.9 percent in February from a year earlier, to prevent inflationary expectations from settling in and contributing to further rises in the prices of everything from broccoli to beer.

State television on Monday showed images of empty store shelves in some Chinese cities as residents raced to pick up P&G and Unilever products before the price rises went into effect, highlighting the sensitivity to prices of especially poorer Chinese people, who are hit hardest by inflation.

Unilever confirmed a report on the price rises by the English-language Shanghai Daily, which had said the rises were on account of rising raw materials costs, but declined to give additional details. P&G could not be reached for comment.

The two companies, which sell a variety of products including shampoo, bath lotion and toothpaste, have a significant portion of the consumer goods market in China according to past statements by executives.

But economists said they did not think the price rises would have a significant impact on the government’s fight against inflation.

“I’m increasingly sure that there has been a lot of monetary policy tightening, and if that’s the case, then inflation will start to come down,” said Paul Cavey, an economist at Macquarie in Hong Kong.

TOKYO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Toshiba Corp said an assembly line in Japan making small liquid crystal displays would be closed for a month, and PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd voiced worries over parts, highlighting the threat to global supply chains from Japan’s devastating earthquake.

Hitachi Ltd also said production of small LCDs will be halted at its factory near Tokyo for a month as it deals with damage and power outages stemming from last week’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

The closures are the latest in a series of plant shutdowns by Japanese companies following the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear fallout threat, which threaten supplies of everything from semiconductors to car parts to manufacturers across the globe.

Any lengthy disruptions to regional production networks could spill over into global supply chains, potentially putting a dent in corporate profits and economic growth more broadly — worries over which have been reflected in falls in global share prices.

Toshiba’s assembly line at a plant near Tokyo making LCDs for smartphones and other devices will be closed to repair sensitive equipment knocked out of alignment by the quake, a Toshiba spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Another plant in Japan making small displays was undamaged, she said.

The Toshiba plant supplies the mobile phone industry and auto makers for navigation displays, and its two factories including the one still operating account for about 5 percent of the global small LCD display market, said Damian Thong, an analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities in Japan.