Shak - 12:54 am on Jul 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

David Liu, managing director of technology investment banking with Broadview, a division of Jefferies & Co., said Chinese companies are often reluctant to accept a buyout before they determine their growth prospects. "If Baidu gets a crazy number from Google, they'll have to consider it," said Liu, cautioning that he has no specific knowledge that Google is weighing a move on Baidu. "But one of the challenges with Chinese companies is that they're growing so rapidly it's a difficult decision to make. For the Chinese clients I've worked with, M&A has been a secondary option because growth prospects are so high and the best is yet to come."

[biz.yahoo.com...]