Pico Thailand & MP International partner with AES

News this week: Pico Thailand and Singaporean event organiser MP International have reportedly invested in Asian Exhibition Services (AES), a Bangkok-based event management company launched earlier this year. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

AES provides international support services to international organisers travelling to Thailand and other regional shows in Asia. The company is headed by David Aitken, previously an executive at Reed, Montgomery and Allworld. Aitkin has previously worked on a wide variety of exhibitions including: ProPak Asia in Bangkok, Plastics and Rubber Vietnam, the launch of NGV India in New Delhi and Mumbai and ASCOPE in Bangkok.

Aitken was quoted in the press, “The AES, Pico Thailand and MP International partnership will bring new business to the region and provide a highly professional solution to new players wanting to enter the market, as well as allowing new shows to flourish in Asia.”

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Alibaba’s eTao forecasts substantial growth

News this week: Over the next three to five years, eTao, the Alibaba Group’s online shopping search engine, is aiming to capture 15% to 20% of China’s Internet search market – primarily focused on shopping and product comparison searches.

According to an Alibaba spokesperson, eTao‘s short-term focus will not be on profitability, but to allow users to search for more online and offline products including those from overseas retail websites. The company said it would invest over US$155 million on a marketing campaign that includes both online and offline advertisements.

Separately, Alibaba Group announced this week a record US$675 million worth of transactions were conducted on its Taobao Marketplace, Alibaba’s C2C ecommerce platform.

Alibaba Group’s chairman and CEO, Jack Ma, said the company is targeting to raise the combined volume of transactions on Taobao Marketplace and the retail-focused Taobao Mall from US$63 billion last year to US$157 billion in 2012.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

HITEX’s Hyderabad jewellery show acquired

News this week: India-based jewellery trade magazine, The Art of Jewellery (AOJ), has acquired 100% of the HITEX International Gem and Jewellery Expo. The annual show was first launched in 2005 with the next edition due to be held next year from 20^th to 22^nd July at the HITEX Fair Grounds in Hyderabad. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was reportedly recently signed in Bangalore by Sumesh Wadhera, managing director and chief editor of AOJ and Sanjay Kapoor, COO of Hyderabad International Trade Expositions Limited.

Sanjay Kapoor was quoted in an AOJ article, “We found a wonderful synergy in The Art of Jewellery and are confident that Sumesh Wadhera and his team will grow the brand even further. HITEX International Gem and Jewellery Expo has been a successful event since its inception and this win-win partnership will reinforce its pre-eminence.”

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.