Alibaba Takes 28% Stake in AutoNavi
AutoNavi, 5/10/13
Chinese digital map provider AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP) today announced that the company and several entities affiliated with Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group have agreed to form a strategic alliance to jointly explore and develop location-based e-commerce products.
The parties plan to share certain data, including AutoNavi's map data and location-related information of the merchants on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms, including Taobao and TMall. AutoNavi and Alibaba will also cooperate in the areas of map engine, location search, navigation and cloud computing services and will cross-promote their respective products and services, with a goal of developing new location-based business models.
Alibaba, through a wholly owned subsidiary, will invest USD 294 mln in newly issued preferred and ordinary shares of AutoNavi, representing approximately 28% of the company's total issued and outstanding shares on a fully-diluted basis. Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba, and Eddie Wu, president of Alibaba's mobile products division, will join AutoNavi's board of directors upon the closing of the transaction.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "AutoNavi to Build Map-Based Marketplace and Social Platforms" MD 1/28/13 issue and "AutoNavi Takes 30% of China's Q4 Mobile Map Market" MD 2/04/13 issue.
Keywords: e-commerce Taobao wireless Joseph Tsai AutoNavi Alibaba Group AMAP Eddie Wu TMall mobile mapping
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