FENG probably pulled higher by BABA news
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Alibaba to Invest in China Business News
E-commerce giant to pay about $200 million for a 30% stake
China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is set to announce on Thursday that it will invest about $200 million for a 30% stake in China Business News, a financial TV and newspaper company that is part of Shanghai Media Group, people familiar with the matter said.
The two companies plan to jointly develop a financial data service that can make use of Alibaba’s database of e-commerce statistics such as sales trends, the people said. Alibaba in April rolled out a new data service for local governments across China to search all kinds of e-commerce related statistics.
The Hangzhou-based company also aims to turn its shoppers into investors. It has started providing stock quotes and charts on the app of Alipay, a PayPal-like online payment system service, and plans to put financial news and information there, said people familiar with their plans.
Alibaba, which has made a flurry of investments in media and entertainment in the past year, also plans to develop a new media incubator with China Business News for media startups, people familiar with the matter said.
The investment follows an alliance made between Alibaba and Shanghai Media Group in November to work together on financial services and business news, and Alibaba’s failed attempt to acquire a stake in another traditional media company called 21st Century Business Herald.
Qin Shuo, chief executive of China Business News, will leave the company after the deal to focus on new media and research. Zhou Jiangong, editor in chief of Forbes’ Chinese edition and a former senior editor at China Business News Paper, will succeed him.
In a vote of confidence in the anticipated investment, Guangdong Guangzhou Daily Media Co Ltd., which owns a small stake in China Business News, surged by 10%, its daily trading limit, on Wednesday afternoon in Shenzhen trade.
