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A heavy focus on ecosystem development and, increasingly, on overseas expansion has fueled aggressive M&A strategies among China’s dominant Internet companies: Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Qihoo 360, and Xiaomi (collectively, "BATQX"). BATQX acquisitions previously comprised mainly Internet and mobile service firms, but more recently have expanded in scope to include areas such as offline retail, logistics, hardware, financial services, TV and film production, property management, sports teams, and cosmetics brands. The BATQX M&A race is rapidly changing the competitive positioning of each of the acquiring companies, and is also providing many target companies a lucrative, early exit option compared to the longer time frame and less certain prospects of an IPO.

To help investors and tech industry enterprises better understand what acquisitions each of the BATQX firms has made over the last 12 quarters, how these deals fit in to each acquirer's ecosystem strategy and improve its overall competitiveness, and what firms, based on the remaining holes in each Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Qihoo, and Xiaomi's respective ecosystems, are most likely to be the target of future acquisitions, Marbridge has developed the Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Qihoo, and Xiaomi M&A Matrix.

The Q1 2015 edition of the Matrix, which expands on previous editions with the first-time inclusion of Xiaomi and Xiaomi founder Lei Jun's venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, covers all major confirmed and rumored BATQX acquisitions (both minority and majority stakes) revealed over the 12-quarter period ending March 31, 2015, as well as a selection of particularly significant M&A deals preceding that period, in Excel (read-only) format. For each firm acquired, the Matrix provides the following information:

• Company Name
• Sector
• Business Scope
• Country (if not mainland China)
• Ticker Symbol (if applicable)
• Stake Acquired (where known)
• Acquisition Price (where known)
• Date of Acquisition / Rumor of Acquisition
• Type of Investment (e.g. pre-IPO Funding, JV, Post-IPO Stake)
• Reference Article in Marbridge Daily

The Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Qihoo, and Xiaomi M&A Matrix covers the following number of deals (multiple investments in the same target company are detailed separately, but here are counted as a single deal):

• Baidu: ~45
• Alibaba: ~80
• Tencent: ~95
• Qihoo 360: ~40
• Xiaomi + Shunwei: ~45 (28 + 17)

Major M&A deals executed by formerly independent subsidiaries, such as Baidu's iQiyi or Qunar, are also included in the Matrix.

During Q1 2015, Alibaba and Tencent, followed by Xiaomi (Xiaomi+Shunwei), were particularly active in making new acquisitions, while Baidu announced only a handful of deals and Qihoo almost none. Xiaomi, already a dominant player in the smartphone sector, has moved quickly over the last several quarters to build out an ecosystem of mobile services and smart hardware technology and product developers. Xiaomi's competitive positioning is further buoyed by the fact that founder Lei Jun also holds top executive positions and equity stakes in several other leading Chinese technology and investment entities, including software developer and online entertainment firm Kingsoft Corporation (3888.HK), interactive video entertainment, education, and online gaming firm YY Inc. (Nasdaq: YY), and venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, among others.