Rubbing it in?

As the rumoured TomBay deal is concluded, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quotes (sorry, subscription required here) Alibaba.com's Porter Erisman welcoming co-operation with eBay. He is quoted as saying "With the confirmation of the new venture, we [Alibaba.com and eBay] are no longer competitors in China. We want to build up an alliance in the online market place to help buyers and sellers around the world."

According to Tom Group's press release and as predicted "eBay will have a 49% stake in the joint venture, and TOM Online will have a 51% stake". Both companies will make financial contributions to the venture, including, as predicted, a US$40 million cash contribution from eBay with just US$20 million coming from TOM Online. Sounds like a good deal fro TOM.

Needless to say, eBay is not painting this as a withdrawal with Meg Whitman quoted as saying "eBay has helped pioneer e-commerce in China, and by combining our expertise with that of
a strong local partner like TOM Online, we are even better positioned to participate in this
growing market. This agreement is a sign of our continued commitment to delivering the best online buying and selling experiences in China.” Yadda, yadda, yadda....