Check out this infographic to have an overview of Alibaba Group’s investment and acquisitions since 2005 before its IPO.
Key investment and acquisitions of Alibaba and its co-founder Jack Ma, the richest man in China:
- 2005
- Yahoo paid US$1 billion in cash for 40% stake in Alibaba; it also merged its China-based subsidiaries into Alibaba
- 2006
- Yipai.com, similar to Taobao, was merged into Alibaba Taobao. Yipai had 7.29% market share in Q3 2005.
- Alibaba acquired Koubei.com, one of China’s largest online classified listing companies, which was founded by an ex-Alibaba employee
- 2009
- Alibaba paid RMB 540 million to acquire Net.cn, a leading basic Internet services provider (web hosting, domain names, etc.)
- 2010
- Alibaba invested in Shanghai Baozun, an e-commerce outsourcing service provider
- Alibaba purchased shares of private courier company – Xing Chen Ji Bian
- Alibaba acquired U.S. E-Commerce software firm Vendio
- Alibaba invested $35 million to Emapgo (EMG; develops digital navigation maps) to become its biggest shareholder.
- Alibaba acquired Auctiva, a company that develops eBay auction management software
- 2011
- Alibaba joined in Meituan’s (a group-buying website) US$50M Series B financing
- 2012
- Alibaba invested in DDMap, a lifestyle e-commerce service provider
- 2013
- Alibaba, Tencent and Ping An Insurance co-founded Zhong An Online Property Insurance Co. which was expected to be China’s first property insurance company selling all products online.
- Alibaba acquired a leading music service company Xiami, founded by a former Alibaba employee
- Alibaba invested in Taxi booking service provider Kuaidi
- Alibaba bought a stake of about 18% in Sina Weibo for $586 million
- Alibaba acquired mobile analytics provider Umeng for $80 million
- Alibaba invested in travel experience sharing app Zailushang (117go.com)
- Alibaba invested $294 million and took a 28% stake in digital mapping company AutoNavi Holdings Ltd; it bought AutoNavi in Feb 2014 in a deal that values the Chinese company at $1.5 billion
- With registered capital of 5 billion yuan, Alibaba set up Cainiao Network in Shenzhen with its partners to build their own logistics network to cover entire China.
- Alibaba invested in travel website Qyer.com
- Alibaba invested RMB 3.1 billion in UCWeb in March 2013 and fully bought out UCWeb in Jun 2014, who is the maker of one of China’s most popular web browsers.
- Bought a minority stake in online shopping company ShopRunner
- Alibaba acquired Kanbox, the personal cloud storage service
- Invested $50 million in app search engine Quixey
- Alibaba’s Alipay took control of Tianhong Asset Management Co with 1.18 billion yuan investment for 51% stake.
- Alibaba invested HK$2.82 billion in Haier, including HK$1.86 billion to form a new joint venture with Haier’s wholly owned logistics unit Goodaymart
- 2014
- Alibaba and Yunfeng Capital, a private equity firm founded by Jack Ma, bought pharmaceutical data provider CITIC 21 CN for $170 million
- Alibaba invested $15 million in 1stdibs, the fast-growing luxury e-commerce site
- Invested in TutorGroup, a leading online education platform
- Alibaba announced it would invest about $692 million in Intime Retail Group Co., owner of department stores and supermarkets
- Invested in Baicheng.com, a travel website focusing on outbound trips
- Invested $215 million for a minority stake in the messaging and free-calling app Tango
- Hundsun, a well known supplier of financial software and network services, was acquired by Zhejiang Rongxin owned by Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma with 3.299 billion yuan (USD 534.38M)
- Jack Ma and other partners agreed to pay 6.54 bln yuan ($1.05 bln) for a 20% stake in China’s Wasu Media Holding. Alibaba and Wasu would cooperate for online content and Internet TV
- Alibaba (16.5% stake), Yunfeng (2%) agree to buy $1.22 billion stake in Youku Tudou
- Alibaba announced to invest SGD 313 million in Singapore Post for 10.35% stake
- Alibaba agreed to take a 50% stake in Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club
Download a high resolution PDF version of this infographic here.