Soros Buys Xiaomi Shares Amid Trade War Between US and China - Reports

The US and Chinese governments have imposed a set of mutual tariffs on imports amid an ongoing trade dispute, with Washington barring two Chinese tech giants' products from its military bases and banning American companies from working with one of them – ZTE.
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The Soros fund bought a small portion of the shares released by Chinese Xiaomi during its Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg reported. Additionally, Chinese investment company Hillhouse Capital has also acquired shares in the Chinese tech giant.

Xiaomi managed to raise some $4.7 billion during its IPO, with each share valued at $2.17. Currently, the company is valued at some $54 billion. Initially the company had planned to set a higher price per share, but in the end it resorted to the minimum price that had been considered.

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Counterpoint Research analysts, cited by Bloomberg, pointed out that the company's attractiveness for investors significantly decreased as a result of the declining profitability of its smartphone division.

The IPO came amid an ongoing trade war between China and the US, which has already been expensive for two other Chinese tech giants — ZTE and Huawei. The cellphones of both companies have been banned from US military bases. Washington has also banned US companies from working with or selling to ZTE, which is significantly reliant on American technology. ZTE's higher management announced a freeze on its activities following the news about the US ban.

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