Rumor: Alibaba in Talks to Invest in Ctrip

Tencent Tech, 2/27/14

Sources close to the matter have indicated that Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group is presently in discussions with online travel service provider Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) regarding a possible Alibaba investment in the company.

According to an investment industry source, Ctrip CEO James Liang favors an independent development path for Ctrip, and even if Alibaba were to invest in Ctrip, the deal would be purely financial in nature, helping to push up Alibaba's IPO valuation.

In a related matter, recent negotiations between Chinese internet firm Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) online travel services subsidiary Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) and Alibaba's third-party payment processor Alipay have reportedly stalled. Accordingly, Qunar may soon suspend user payments via Alipay on its mobile app until the issues have been resolved.

Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Rumor: Alibaba Invests USD 15 Mln in Overseas Travel Site Byecity," MD 1/10/14 and "Ctrip Denies Tencent Acquisition Rumors," MD 7/10/13 issues.

Keywords: Internet investment Ctrip online travel Qunar Alipay Baidu third-party payment BIDU CTRP Alibaba Group QUNR James Liang

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