Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba has made an unsolicited bid for control of China’s most successful map app, part of Alibaba’s aggressive expansion efforts before its hotly anticipated initial public offering.
Alibaba has made an unsolicited bid to take over AutoNavi, of which it already owns nearly a third, in an all-cash deal that values the company at $1.6bn. Eight months ago, it spent $294m for a 28 per cent stake in the group – a deal that valued AutoNavi at $1.05bn.
The move is part of Alibaba’s efforts to beat its rivals and win over the hundreds of millions of Chinese who rely on phones to go online. The dealmaking will help Alibaba expand its mobile commerce capabilities and show the physical location of vendors in its fast-growing empire. AutoNavi is notable also for being one of the few companies with a Chinese mapping licence.