Alibaba Snaps Up The Rest Of Ele.me
"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("
"); });
2018-04-03 HKT 01:32
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding said on Monday it would buy the remaining shares of Ele.me, a major platform in China’s food delivery market, as it competes with Tencent Holdings services for offline consumers.
Alibaba and affiliate Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group currently own approximately 43 percent of Ele.me, and the latest deal will value the startup at US$9.5 billion, said Alibaba in a statement.
Ele.me, which roughly translates as “Hungry?”, is part of a fast-growing and competitive e-commerce market in China driven by consumers eager to use smartphones to make purchases from groceries to cinema tickets.
In August Ele.me bought major rival Baidu deliveries from Baidu. For Alibaba, the latest acquisition enlarges the e-commerce firm’s food delivery empire, which also includes delivery platform Koubei, as it competes with Meituan Dianping, backed by Tencent Holdings.
Alibaba and Meituan are both investing heavily in offline services, including deliveries, mobile payments and unstaffed stores, to tap a wider demographic as China’s online commerce market shows signs of slowing.
Ele.me will continue to operate under its own brand following the acquisition, said Alibaba, but will combine some functionalities with Koubei.
As part of the deal Alibaba will install Alibaba Vice President Wang Lei as chief executive at Ele.me, while the current chief executive and founder of Ele.me will become chairman and serve as a special advisor to Alibaba on new retail strategies. (Reuters)
US Stocks Rise On Hopes Of Pause In Rate Increases
Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher on Thursday, reflecting better sentiment on the US economy and a consensus vi... Read more
China's Financial Risks 'controllable': Regulators
The head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Thursday told a high-profile forum in Shanghai that the ... Read more
Banks Cut Yuan Deposit Rates, Could Boost Consumption
China's biggest banks on Thursday said they have lowered interest rates on yuan deposits, in actions that could ease pre... Read more
Cheese And Wine Put EU, Australia Deal In Peril
Australia on Thursday threatened to walk away from a blockbuster free trade deal with the European Union unless its prod... Read more
US Stocks End Mixed As Tech Shares Are Sold Off
Gains by industrial companies lifted the Dow on Wednesday, while weakness among technology shares pushed the Nasdaq deci... Read more
Amazon 'plans Prime Video Streaming Service With Ads'
Amazon.com is planning to launch an advertising-supported tier of its Prime Video streaming service, the Wall Street Jou... Read more