E-commerce group Alibaba agreed today to invest CNY 1.2bn ($194m) in China Business News (CBN), a finance-focused subsidiary of China-based media conglomerate Shanghai Media Group, as part of a strategic agreement.
Alibaba will acquire a 30% stake through the deal, and intends to launch an incubator in partnership with China Business News that will fund media startups, two people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
The two companies plan to jointly work on data-based initiatives in the academia, business and media sectors, and will initially develop a financial data platform for small and medium-sized business that will incorporate Alibaba’s e-commerce sales statistics.
Alibaba has already begun inserting share prices and financial data charts into its online payment subsidiary, Alipay, and it intends to soon add financial news and information. CBN is also planning to release a wealth management data product on Mobile Taobao, an online shopping subsidiary of Alibaba.
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s executive chairman, said: “The era of Data Technology is here and it will surpass the Information Technology era. The DT era is about transparency, sharing of information and enabling others. Alibaba is excited about the possibilities of the DT era and how it can bring value to society.”
Alibaba and Shanghai Media Group previously signed an agreement in November 2014 to collaborate on finance news.
The e-commerce company previously took part in an $80m round for US-based media company 21st Century Media Group in June 2014, boosting its stake to 20% in the process.