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Tencent, Wanda team up with Baidu [ITWeb](ITWeb Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) China's privately-held Dalian Wanda is set to launch a 5 billion yuan ($813 million) e-commerce joint venture with domestic Internet giants Tencent and Baidu, according to two sources familiar with the investment. The e-commerce venture, which will be 70% owned by Wanda and 15% held by Tencent and Baidu respectively, is set to be announced later this week, the people said. The venture will unite three of China's most powerful non-state companies. For Wanda, the tie-up with Tencent and Baidu opens the door to new opportunities in the world's biggest e-commerce market as the rise of smartphones creates new business opportunities. Wanda is a commercial property, luxury hotel and film conglomerate controlled by Wang Jianlin, China's wealthiest billionaire with a net worth of $16 billion, according to Forbes. Wanda, which bought US-cinema operator AMC in 2012, operates 83 department stores in major cities throughout China. Shenzhen-based Tencent, a social media and video games mammoth, is China's biggest listed Internet firm with a market capitalisation of $156 billion. Beijing-based Baidu is China's dominant search engine provider. In July, Wang Jianlin said Wanda was planning a 50 billion yuan e-commerce business without disclosing who the other investors would be. A Wanda spokesman declined to comment, as did spokeswomen for Baidu and Tencent. Naspers, the largest media group outside of the US and China, with a market capitalisation of R584.7 billion, has a 34% stake in Tencent, which is worth around R54 billion. (c) 2014 ITWeb Limited. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |