Press Release |
Press Release |
Press Release |
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and BEIJING – Oct. 24, 2005 – Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, and Alibaba.com, China's largest e-commerce company, today announced the completion of their business combination in China.
"Together, Yahoo! and Alibaba have created one of the largest Internet companies in the fastest-growing Internet market," said Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive officer of Yahoo!. "Through this strategic partnership, we will combine the best of commerce, search, communications and online advertising capabilities in new ways for Chinese consumers and businesses, under the management of a strong local team."
"Today marks the official start of a great strategic partnership between Alibaba.com and Yahoo! Inc.," said Jack Ma, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba.com. "By adding Yahoo! China to Alibaba.com's portfolio of businesses, we are adding services such as search and communications to our already comprehensive range of e-commerce services. We look forward to growing the Yahoo! brand in China to create opportunities for consumers and businesses in China and around the world."
As a result, Yahoo! now owns a more than 40 percent economic interest with 35 percent voting rights, making it the largest strategic investor in Alibaba.com. Through this strategic partnership, Alibaba.com becomes the only Internet company in China with a leading position in key growth sectors including business-to-business e-commerce, consumer e-commerce, online payment, communications and search.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
About Alibaba.com
Alibaba.com Corporation is China's leading e-commerce company, operating the world's largest online marketplaces for both international and domestic China trade, as well as China's most popular online payment system, AliPay. The Alibaba websites have more than 20 million registered users in 200 countries and territories. In 2004, over US$4 billion in trade is estimated to have come from buyers and sellers connecting at Alibaba sites.
Alibaba's Marketplaces
Alibaba International (www.Alibaba.com) is an English-language website primarily serving Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME's) in the international trade community, with 1.7 million registered users from over 200 countries and territories.
Alibaba China (www.China.Alibaba.com) is China's largest online marketplace for domestic trade among businesspeople. With more than 7 million registered users, Alibaba China is a trusted community of members who regularly meet, chat, search for products and do business online. Customers pay an annual subscription fee for membership, which entitles them to post trade offers and products online. The subscription fee also includes authentication and verification of the member's identity, which is performed by a third-party credit agency.
Taobao.com is a unit of Alibaba.com and is China's most popular C2C trading site with more than 10 million registered users. Since its founding in May 2003, Taobao has risen to become a leader in China's consumer e-commerce market. Compared with similar services, the website has the highest number of product listings and the highest penetration among China's 100 million Internet users.
AliPay Online Payment Solution: Completing China's e-commerce transaction chain, Alibaba operates AliPay (www.AliPay.com) which enables any individual or business to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. AliPay's service builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards, and utilizes proprietary fraud prevention systems to create a safe payment solution. To provide AliPay, Alibaba has partnered with China's leading banks, including China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s transaction with Alibaba.com (including without limitation as described in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo!'s strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, Alibaba.com's ability to successfully integrate Yahoo!'s China operations and employees; the combined company's ability to compete with new or existing competitors; acceptance by users of the combined company's new products and services; the combined company's ability to manage growth and diversification; an uncertain and emerging regulatory environment relating to Internet services in China; and general economic and political conditions in China. More information about potential factors that could affect Company's business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 which are on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Yahoo! Media Relations Contact:
Mary Osako, Yahoo! Inc., mosako@yahoo-inc.com, 408-349-6255
Yahoo! Investor Relations Contact:
Paul Hollerbach, Yahoo! Inc., paulh@yahoo-inc.com, 408-349-3578
Alibaba.com Media Relations Contacts:
Porter Erisman, Alibaba.com, porter@alibaba-inc.com, (China Phone) + 86-138-1782-6630
Marcy Simon, Worldwide Communications & Television for Alibaba.com, marcy@wctv.com, 212-445-8220