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Top 10 ways Alibaba is building an empire [China Daily: Hong Kong Edition](China Daily: Hong Kong Edition Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) When it comes to building an empire in a volatile global market, it's not enough to just think big. You also need to act fast at the same time. Within a year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, an Internet giant that owns China's largest online marketplace Taobao.com, has transformed itself from a domestic e-commerce company into a multinational conglomerate involved in finance, culture, media, soccer, education, and more. Back in 1999, it was a mere startup in East China's Zhejiang province with only 18 employees. The high-profile expansion comes as the company gears up for its initial public offering on Wall Street. The much-highlighted event is expected to overtake Facebook as the largest ever tech IPO in the world. Some have greeted the move with doubts, however, fearing the company may suffer from growing pains or from the breathtakingly speed of expansion. Before you jump to a conclusion, take a look at Alibaba's moves over the past six months. Top 10 Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club Investment: $192 million Share: 50 percent Date: June 5 Alibaba agreed to pay 1.2 billion yuan ($192 million) for a 50 percent stake in the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club, the most successful Chinese club.>>> more Jack Ma (R), founder and chairman of Alibaba Group, and Xu Jiayin (L), Chairman of Guangzhou Evergrande Group, raise thumbs up at the deal-signing ceremony in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province on June 5, 2014. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 9 Tango Investment: $215 million Share: unknown Date: March 30 After a series of buying up and investment in its home market, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, a Chinese e-commerce conglomerate, made its move in the United States by sinking $215 million in the California-based chat application Tango.>>> more A screen shot from the official website of US startup Tango, June 29, 2014. [Photo / chinadaily.com.cn] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 8 Singapore Post Ltd Investment: $249 million Share: 10.35 percent Date: May 28 Alibaba has given cross-border business a strong push by announcing its plans to buy a stake in Singapore Post Ltd, a move that for the first time directly connects China's e-commerce system with overseas logistics.>>> more A mailbox of Singapore Post Ltd is pitured, July 31, 2009. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 7 Hundsun Technologies Inc Investment: $531.78 million Share: 20.6 percent Date: April 3 Jack Ma's move underscores his desire to move into and reshape China's financial services sector, an area that Alibaba's Joe Tsai, the man steering the company's highly anticipated US listing, described as "antiquated".>>> more Hundsun Technologies said on April 3 that Hundsun Group, which owns a 20.6 percent stake in Hundsun Technologies, will sell 100 percent of its shares to Zhejiang Finance Credit Network Technology Co, a company 99 percent owned by Ma. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 6 Intime Retail (Group) Co Ltd Investment: $692.2 million Share: 9.9 percent Date: March 31 The investment is expected to give Alibaba a stake in Intime of about 9.9 percent when the deal is completed. The convertible bonds are estimated to allow Alibaba to take no less than 25 percent of Intime when it converts those bonds into common stock shares within three years. An online membership product jointly launched with the department store operator has showed strong potential for developing online-to-offline business by gaining 5 million users within 100 days.>>> more Zhang Yong, COO of Alibaba Group, speaks at a news conference for Alibaba acquiring shares of Intime Retail Group in Beijing, China, March 31, 2014. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 5 ChinaVision Media Group Ltd Investment: $804 million Share: 59.32 percent Date: March 11 Alibaba has invested HK$6.24 billion for 59.32 percent in Hong Kong-listed China Vision Media Group Ltd (CVMG), becoming the media company's biggest shareholder. The company, which has a rich business portfolio from print media, television and films to mobile games, will be renamed "Alibaba Film Group Co Ltd" accordingly.>>> more Dong Ping, the media group's former president, will become adviser to the company after the acquisition by Alibaba. Liu Chunning, Alibaba Group vice-president, will serve as the media company's president. Chinese action movie star Jet Li will act as the company's independent non-executive director. Photo taken on Oct 26, 2012. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 4 Wasu Media Holding Co Investment: $1.06 billion Share: 20 percent Date: April 8 An investment firm controlled by the founders of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd agreed Tuesday to buy a 20 percent stake in a Chinese Internet-television company for about $6.54 billion yuan ($1.06 billion), a move that will allow Alibaba to expand into the digital-content market.>>> more A customer is seen at a branch of Wasu Media in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, Oct 19, 2012. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 3 AutoNavi Holdings Ltd Investment: $1.58 billion Share: 100 percent Date: Feb 10 Alibaba, which already owned 28 percent of AutoNavi, offered to buy the Chinese digital mapping and navigation firm to expand its product line-up to better compete with Chinese rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc.>>> more People visit the stand of AutoNavi, the Chinese map and data service provider, during the PT/EXPO COMM China 2013 in Beijing, China, Sept 25, 2013. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 2 Youku Tudou Inc Investment: $1.22 billion Share: 16.5 percent Date: April 28 Along with private equity firm Yunfeng Capital, Alibaba agreed to purchase a minority stake of Youku Tudou Inc, a move that marked the first step by the world's largest online shopping platform into the online video market and "will further extend the Alibaba ecosystem and bring new products and services to Alibaba's customers".>>> more Alibaba will indirectly hold about 16.5 percent of Youku Tudou's shares after the acquisition, and Yunfeng Capital will hold 2 percent, according to a statement released by the video company. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles Top 1 UCWeb Inc Investment: Unknown Share: 100 percent Date: June 11 The biggest Internet deal in China will mainly be done using Alibaba's stock with a smaller part as cash. It was reported that Alibaba has invested about 30 billion yuan ($48.32 billion) in the company as of the buy-out. The two companies have decided to set up the UCWeb Mobile Business Group to deal with businesses like Internet browsers, search services, location-based services, mobile gaming platforms, mobile application distribution and mobile literature services.>>> more A Chinese resident uses the UC Browser, backed by Chinas largest e-commerce giant Alibaba, on his smartphone in Chongqing, China, Oct 5, 2011. [Photo / IC] Top 10 most competitive cities for mobile Internet 9 IPOs launched by Chinese firms in US this year Top 10 best-selling video game consoles (c) 2014 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |