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  "documentTitle": "China MediaExpress Holdings (CCME)",
  "authorId": "51_Muddy_Waters",
  "authorName": "Carson C. Block",
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  "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller",
  "presentationDate": "2011-02-03 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "This is a page from a short-seller report. It uses a narrative structure to expose discrepancies between reported metrics and reality.",
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      "text": "CCME has far fewer buses than it claims.",
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      "text": "It is not uncommon for small media companies in China to show ads from large prestigious brands with which they have no contract or business relationship. Usually this is done in order to impress potential advertisers. We suspect that CCME does this to a fair extent, but to impress investors.",
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      "text": "CCME’s core audience is a sub-Greyhound Bus demographic, which is largely unattractive to all but local businesses (e.g., local restaurants and hotels). Much has been made about having performed due diligence by seeing commercials from large advertisers on CCME’s network buses. In this case, seeing is not believing.",
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      "text": "CCME has far fewer buses than it claims. In its most recent press release, the Company claimed to have “over 27,200” buses under contract. However, the spreadsheet provided as part of its",
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      "text": "The purpose of this fraud is to generate earn-outs for management, and to increase the market value their stock so they can sell it. An institutional investor informed us that CCME management was quite interested in selling him approximately $50 million of their shares. In October 2010, a party closely connected to management sold nine million dollars of stock.",
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      "text": "Similar to RINO, there is an underlying business - it is just much smaller than reported. The Company appears focused on Beijing inter-city buses and its airport express buses. However, we suspect this focus has less to do with generating real profit, and more to do with projecting credibility to investors.",
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      "text": "Management (including through companies owned by family and close associates) owns approximately 18.3 million shares of stock (54.1% of the shares outstanding). At current market value, that equals $312 million. There has been some fanfare around a 104,000-share management purchase in December 2010. We view this purchase, along with the dividend that the Company announced it intends to pay (essentially a partial return of investor funds), as investor relations expenses.",
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      "text": "Reminiscent of RINO, CCME is in reality an obscure company in its industry. None of the major media buyers with whom we spoke – including several who represent CCME’s purported customers – had even heard of CCME.",
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      "text": "5 The seller was Thousand Space Holdings Ltd., which is beneficially owned by Lin Ou Wen, who was an investor in the business prior to the SPAC transaction. 6 Based on 33.8 million basic shares outstanding. 7 See CCME press release “China MediaExpress Holdings, Inc. Announces Three New Contracts” (January 13, 2011).",
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      "text": "CCME has far Fewer Buses in its Network than it Claims.",
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