Alibaba.com Eyes India…But No Plans Yet For Acquisitions Or Even An Office Here

Alibaba.com, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed B2B arm of the Alibaba group of companies is eying India as a priority market. The company claims to have a customer base of 340,000 from India, and is targeting around 600,000 by the end of next year. However, there are no immediate plans for acquisitions or even setting up an office in India, Brian A Wong, Sr. Director (International Business Development & Marketing) told PTI, though the story does mention “the roll-out of its aggressive expansion programme in India”. Alibaba.in appears to be taken...Nevertheless, this should be good competition for eBay India, which has recently launched an advertising campaign on TV.

Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) owns 39 percent of the Alibaba Group, and had purchased a direct 1 percent stake in Alibaba.com, spending $100 million for 57.5 million shares, at $1.74 per share.