Yahoo! China (yes, the whole thing) is just the cherry on top of a deal between Yahoo! and China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba. Completed on Monday, Yahoo! is ceding its entire Chinese leg to Alibaba and investing $1 billion in cash for 40 percent economic interest and 35 percent voting rights in the company.
Yahoo! announced their intentions of forming an agreement with Alibaba on August 11th of this year, making it the largest strategic investor in Alibaba.com.
“Together, Yahoo! and Alibaba have created one of the largest Internet companies in the fastest-growing Internet market,” said Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive officer of Yahoo!.
“Through this strategic partnership, we will combine the best of commerce, search, communications and online advertising capabilities in new ways for Chinese consumers and businesses, under the management of a strong local team.”
Alibaba.com Corporation is China’s leading e-commerce company, operating the world’s largest online marketplaces for both international and domestic China trade, as well as China’s most popular online payment system, AliPay. The Alibaba websites have more than 20 million registered users in 200 countries and territories.
Included in Alibaba’s offerings is Taobao.com, a domestic trading site similar to eBay. As with eBay, Alibaba has its own version of PayPal, called AliPay.
The combined entity will consist of: Alibaba International, Alibaba China, AliPay, Taobao, the Yahoo! China properties, which includes the Yahoo! China portal and its communications and advertising services, Yahoo! Search Technology, and 3721, a leading keyword search service. Yahoo! also intends to contribute its interest in 1Pai, one of the leading consumer commerce offerings in China, into Alibaba.com.
“Teaming up with Yahoo! will allow us to deliver an unmatched range of e-commerce services to businesses and consumers in China,” said Jack Ma, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba.com.
