Alibaba.com Purchased back Alisoft Assets for $30m

Alibaba Group has agreed to inject the Business Management Software (BMS) division of its wholly-owned software subsidiary, Alisoft, into the Information Technology Business Unit of its majority-owned subsidiary Alibaba.com (1688.HK) for total compensation of $30.5 million (RMB 208 million) by September 1, according to an August 17 announcement.

Alibaba.com intends to acquire Alisoft's major application software product lines for small businesses, all customer contracts and more than 250 BMS division employees. Alisoft's non-management-software-related core technologies will be among the assets remaining under Alibaba Group ownership, said the announcement.

The announcement also said, Alibaba.com is planning to leverage its sales and marketing organization to boost sales of Alisoft's customer relationship management and marketing software, .

This is the first time, one of the biggest b2b marketplaces, Alibaba.com has acquired assets from its parent in a move to supplement its product offerings and generate new sources of revenue. The transfer of business management software division comprises application software product lines for small businesses, customer contracts and employees, it said. After the closing of the acquisition by Sept. 1, 2009 the business management software division, with more than 250 employees, has been integrated with Alibaba.com's Information Technology Business Unit.

Alibaba.com said it will leverage its sales and marketing organization to increase the sale of Alisoft's customer relationship management and marketing software for exporters and small businesses engaged in domestic trade.

"The addition of these software offerings and related services continues Alibaba.com's drive to transform ourselves from "Meet at Alibaba to Work at Alibaba" by offering small businesses the tools to manage key aspects of their business operations via the Internet," said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com, in a statement.

CLSA analyst Elinor Leung said the deal is small and it won't have much impact on Alibaba's business. "Even before this deal, Alibaba.com has been offering Alisoft's software services to its customers," said Leung. "What really matters is the market response."

Alibaba Group has already announced its merger of research and development division into Alisoft on July 22 2009.

Alibaba IM Tool Records 4M Users

Alibaba Group's software subsidiary Alisoft has recorded more than 4 million independent users for its instant messaging (IM) tool, "Ali Wang Wang," reports Ccidnet.com. Ali Wang Wang offers nearly 400 Software as a Service (SaaS) products, said the report. At the end of last year, Alisoft reported having exceeded 100 million users on Ali Wang Wang.

Alisoft signed a cooperation agreement with Nanjiang Yuhua Economic Development Zone Committee July 3 to invest more than RMB 50 million in an internet software park in Nanjing, Chengdu Daily reported. Enterprises setting up in the park will be offered preferential tax incentives, funding support and office equipment, the report said.

Recent news about Ali Wang Wang:

• Online Games on Alibaba IM Tool
• Ali Wang Wang - Alibaba IM Tool Enters Online Ad Market

Alisoft to spend $146 mln to market ShopKeeper to 42 mln SMEs in China

BEIJING, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire-Asia via COMTEX/ ----Alisoft, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, today announced that it will offer free Internet-based management software to all 42 million small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in China as part of the Group's ongoing effort to make it easy for SMEs to do business using e-commerce.

The software, called "Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%)", comprises an accounting and finance module in the initial edition to be launched today; an inventory management and a customer relations management module will both be available in May 2009. Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) will be free to SME users for at least three years. Apart from the free software license, Alisoft will provide free upgrades, training and customer support for all users. Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%), a simple-to-use software targeted at key decision makers in SMEs, addresses the need of small business owners who desire to keep track of their money, inventory and customers.

To make Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) and other business software widely available to the market, Alisoft will invest up to RMB1 billion over the next three years to cultivate the SME-focused software industry, and further drive usage of Internet-based software, or "software-as-a-service", as a new paradigm of how businesses use technology to manage their operations.

"We are confident that this offering will bring a revolutionary change to how small businesses manage their operations in the coming years. While other traditional software companies have contributed to the market development in the past 20 years, we are hoping to see more new and innovative software companies join hands with us in nurturing the high-potential SME-focused software industry. The free offer signifies an important step we are taking from "Meet at Alibaba" to "Work at Alibaba". Alisoft, together with our parent Alibaba Group, will further forge ahead to build the best e-commerce infrastructure and ecosystem for businesses around the world," said Oliver Wang, President of Alisoft.

According to a report issued by the Center for Informatization Study of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2007, just under 5% of SMEs in China are using enterprise resource planning software, which demonstrates the tremendous potential for the business management software industry. Enterprise resource planning software includes a variety of basic, indispensable functions, including accounting, inventory and customer relations management. However, most enterprise management software available in the market is usually designed for large enterprises and is not cost effective for SMEs.

Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) is specially designed for business owners, serving as a tool to monitor the business operations and financial status of the business in a way understandable to business owners who do not have technical financial backgrounds. In addition to its accounting and cash flow management functions, the Internet-based software is also enabled via mobile access and allows SMEs to make online payments via Alipay, the online payment solution leader in China and a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group. Subscribers of Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) can also apply for loans under "Ali-Loan", the SME loan- assistance program initiated by Alibaba.com, which is supported by eight major banks in China.

Alisoft to Open E-commerce Cloud Computing Centers

Alibaba Group's software subsidiary Alisoft announced on December 30 that it plans to build several e-commerce "Business Cloud" computing centers, the first of which will be established in Nanjing in early 2009 with initial investment of more than RMB 100 million, reports Sina. The cloud computing centers will work with the Hangzhou data center and provide e-commerce services to domestic users as well as computing, storage and network services.

Alisoft Will Develop China Software Market With 20 VC Companies

Alisoft, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, reportedly plans to cooperate with 20 venture capital companies to invest USD100 million to China's software market and to create 30 listed companies in three years.

Alibaba Group has made a three-year plan for Alisoft's entry into the online software service market and the cooperation with VC investment is a core part of the plan. Alibaba and the 20 VC companies will invest USD100 million to offer a fast channel to independent software vendors for green financing. Of the USD100 million, CNY100 million will be contributed by Alisoft.

In January 2008, Alisoft cooperated with Microsoft and Cisco to launch the first "software interconnection" platform in Asia. About 100 independent software vendors, software dealers and software service providers signed contracts with the platform. According to the estimation of Alisoft, the number of the independent software vendors on the platform will reach 3,000 and the company hopes to help 30 of them to get listed within three years.

Alibaba - A B2B Trade Company Overview

Corporate Overview

Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China. Since it was founded in 1999, the Alibaba Group has grown to include six core member companies:

Alibaba.com - Alibaba.com (1688.HK) is the Alibaba Group's flagship company and the leading B2B e-commerce company in China, serving small and medium sized enterprises in China and around the world

Taobao - A leading online shopping marketplace for consumers in China

Alipay - China's leading online payment service

Yahoo! China - A search engine and lifestyle portal, acquired from Yahoo! Inc. in October 2005

Alisoft - An Internet-based business management software company targeting SMEs in China

Alimama - An online advertising exchange for web publishers and advertisers to trade online advertising inventory in China

History & Milestones

1999

Alibaba Group officially established, led by Jack Ma and Alibaba's 18 founders working out of a Hangzhou apartment

1999-2000

Alibaba raises US$25 million from Softbank, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and other institutions

2003

May: Consumer e-commerce site Taobao is founded, again in Jack Ma's apartment

2004

Online payment system Alipay is launched

2005

October: Alibaba.com forms a strategic partnership with Yahoo! Inc. and takes over the operation of Yahoo! China

2007

January: Business software services company Alisoft is launchedNovember 6: Alibaba.com Limited lists on the Hong Kong Stock ExchangeNovember 20: Alibaba Group launches Alimama, an online advertising exchange company

Alibaba.com (1688.HK) is the leading B2B e-commerce company in China. We provide an efficient, trusted platform connecting small and medium-sized buyers and suppliers from China and around the world. Our international marketplace (www.alibaba.com) focuses on global importers and exporters and our China marketplace (www.alibaba.com.cn) focuses on suppliers and buyers trading domestically in China. Together our marketplaces form a community of more than 24 million members from over 200 countries and regions, as of June 30, 2007.

Founded in 1999, Alibaba.com is the flagship business of the Alibaba Group and one of the world's premier e-commerce brands. Our operational headquarters is based in Hangzhou in eastern China. We have field sales and marketing offices in more than 30 cities in China, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United States. The company had more than 4,400 full-time employees as of June 30, 2007.

Taobao operates an online shopping marketplace for consumers in China under the names "Taobao" and "淘宝" ("Taobao" in Chinese). With a registered user base of approximately 39.9 million as of June 30, 2007, Taobao facilitates transactions between individual consumers and a wide range of sellers including individuals and retailers. Sellers may post new and used goods for sale on the Taobao marketplace either through a fixed price or negotiated sale or by auction. Consumers may search, shop and transact with sellers on the Taobao marketplace. Alibaba Group founded Taobao, headquartered in Hangzhou, in 2003.

Alipay is an online payment services provider operating under the names "Alipay" and"支付宝" ("Alipay" in Chinese). Alipay's service enables individuals and businesses to execute payments online in a safe and secure manner. Alipay's users are primarily buyers and sellers engaging in e-commerce transactions. With a registered user base of approximately 43.5 million as of June 30, 2007, Alipay is an accepted online payment method for many online retail websites and other online goods and service providers in China as well as the designated online payment service provider on our China marketplace and on Taobao. Alipay partners with domestic PRC banks to provide an escrow service for payments, which reduces the settlement risks faced by Alipay's customers in their e-commerce transactions. Alibaba Group founded Alipay, headquartered in Hangzhou, in 2004.

Yahoo! China's website operates Chinese language portal services, such as email and the provision of finance, sports, lifestyle and entertainment information, as well as a web search service that crawls and indexes web pages generally available on the Internet targeted at individual Internet users in China. Yahoo! China's paying customers primarily consist of advertisers that purchase fixed price banner advertisements, text-links or auction-based pay-for-performance marketing services on Yahoo! China's website. In October 2005, Alibaba Group acquired Yahoo! China in a transaction whereby Yahoo! became a substantial shareholder of Alibaba Group. In connection with this transaction, Yahoo! agreed to grant to Alibaba Group the exclusive rights to use in China the "Yahoo!" name and certain technologies owned by Yahoo!, as well as the right to sub-license these rights to other members of Alibaba Group. Yahoo! China is headquartered in Beijing.

Alisoft develops, markets and delivers Internet-based business management software targeting SMEs in China. Alisoft's software provides its customers with various tools, including enterprise management tools, such as email, customer inquiries and information management, and basic financial management tools, such as invoicing and bookkeeping. Alisoft owns the copyright and other proprietary software rights of the "阿里旺旺" ("Aliwangwang" in Chinese) instant messaging communication tool, which is the designated instant messaging communication tool for Taobao and which we offer to our users as TradeManager on our international marketplace and as 贸易通 (TradeManager in Chinese) on our China marketplace. Alibaba Group founded Alisoft, with operations in Hangzhou and Shanghai, in January 2007.

Alimama is China's leading online advertising exchange, which allows web publishers and advertisers to trade online advertising inventory. A wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, Alimama is designed to serve the more than one million small- and medium- sized websites in China which generate an estimated 80% of China's website traffic. Alimama helps connects these web publishers to advertisers, allowing them to monetize their website traffic while offering advertisers an affordable way to reach highly targeted audience groups.

Alibaba To Launch SaaS MarketPlace

Alibaba announced its SaaS platform in Alisoft.com last week with the aim to build it into a marketplace for Saas.

Alisoft is a new comer to China’s SaaS market in 2007, but it has been a key player in the market. According to a report by Analysys International, in 2007 Q3, the total number of enterprise clients of all SaaS service providers amounted to 2.67 million, and based on number of users, Alisoft has taken the 63.7% market share due to its aggressive free strategy to acquire users.

Now, Alisoft plans to take advantage of its broad user base to build a SaaS marketplace to serve its users. The Alisoft SaaS platform is an open platform for all kinds of ISVs to join, promote and sell services, and share revenue with Alisoft. Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle have been the partners of Alisoft.

It is another marketplace launched by Alibaba, after Taobao and Alimama, we haven’t know whether Alisoft will develop a unified user authorization system for SaaS system listed on the platform. Leveraging on accrued extensive business users of Alibaba and Taobao, and online payment system Alipay, Alisoft seems to be a good platform for SaaS promotion and sales. It might also accelerate the wide adoption of SaaS model among SMEs.

Alibaba Unit Launches Web Site Selling Business Software

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group said Wednesday its software unit is launching a Web site to sell business software developed by various companies.

Alibaba Group, in which Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) holds a stake of around 40%, started Alisoft Co. in January last year to target small- and medium-sized businesses in China.

Alibaba Group said the Alisoft.com Web site will sell software from industry heavyweights, such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), and from thousands of independent vendors.

Alisoft said in April it will offer software, including programs to manage inventory and customer relations, and develop Web-based applications such as email, word processing and spreadsheets using Microsoft technology.