China-based conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group confirmed yesterday that it has acquired a controlling stake in China-based online payment service provider 99Bill.
Although Wanda, which specialises in building shopping centres, did not disclose the price, sources told Reuters it was likely to be about RMB 2bn ($322m). The size of the stake obtained by Wanda has not been publicised.
Wanda’s investment in 99Bill follows the formation in August of an $814m e-commerce joint venture with internet portal Tencent and search engine provider Baidu, in which Wanda holds a 70% stake.
99Bill, ranked fourth in China behind Unionpay, Alipay and Tenpay in total online transactions for 2014 according to Wanda, provides offline, online, mobile and cross-border payment services and will become the default payment system for the joint venture.
According to regulatory filings, 99Bill raised approximately $82m between 2005 and 2012 from investors including investment firm Peninsula Capital and venture capital firms DCM and Lightspeed Venture Capital.