Thursday, May 16, 2013

Alibaba buys interest in digital mapping firm


News this week: Last week, China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced the purchase of NASDAQ-listed AutoNavi, a digital mapping firm, for US$294 million.

After the transaction, Alibaba will hold a 28% stake in AutoNavi. Alibaba’s Joe Tsai, and Eddie Wu will serve as directors of AutoNavi. The two companies will form a strategic alliance to develop “location based” e-commerce opportunities.

AutoNavi’s digital map service is reportedly a market leader in its industry, which has a market share of 29.8% in the first quarter in 2013. According to the company, it has a more than 100 million users as of January 2013. AutoNavi focuses on three key areas: Internet & mobile internet, navigation and government & enterprise applications.

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