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Alibaba to Buy Kaola Unit From Netease for $2 Billion

The e-commerce conglomerate will invest $2 million into the largest Chinese shopping site for imported goods.
Source: Flickr/Hinglish
By
  • Reuters

HANGZOU, China — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has agreed to pay $2 billion in cash to buy Chinese e-commerce firm Kaola, local news outlet Caixin reported on Friday.

Kaola, owned by Nasdaq-listed NetEase Inc, sells apparel, household appliances and other products, and is the biggest among Chinese shopping sites selling imported goods, according to a report from consulting agency iiMedia.

Both Alibaba and NetEase did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The news comes a day after Alibaba reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, aided by growth in its e-commerce and cloud computing businesses.

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Amazon.com Inc's Chinese joint venture was also in talks about a merger with Kaola, business magazine Caijing had reported in February.

By Akanksha Rana; editor: Shinjini Ganguli.

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