Temat: Alibaba.com aims to expand in Europe through acquisitions

Alibaba.com aims to expand in Europe through acquisitions
(AFX)
Updated: 2008-01-02 15:47

Chinese business-to-business e-commerce platform Alibaba.com plans to expand into Europe through acquisitions, chief executive David Wei told Financial Times Deutschland.

The company will use "about 60 percent" of its $1.7 billion in proceeds from its initial public offering for acquisitions, new technology and strategic alliances, Wei said.

"And we have decided to invest more in Europe," he said.

Alibaba.com has about 24 million registered users, of which 21 million are on the company's Chinese-language platform, while the rest are registered on its English-language marketplace.

The company focuses mainly on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which aim to lower their procurement costs by using online trade.

"With more than 20 million SMEs, Europe is a very important market for us," Wei said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-01/02/conte...