Alibaba has announced that it has acquired Youku Tudou for around $3.7 billion.
Youku Tudou is commonly referred to as “China’s YouTube”. E-commerce giant Alibaba had previously offered a little less to purchase the company last October.
Alibaba already owned about a fifth of Youku Tudou.
“We believe this combination with Alibaba maximizes value for Youku Tudou shareholders and significantly benefits our customers, users and team,” said Victor Koo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Youku Tudou. “We are eager to work with Alibaba to grow our multi-screen entertainment and media ecosystem. We are confident that we will strengthen our market position and further accelerate our growth through the integration of our advertising and consumer businesses with Alibaba’s platform and Alipay services. With Alibaba’s support, Youku Tudou’s future as the leading multi-screen entertainment and media platform in China has been firmly secured.”
Youku Tudou is one of China’s biggest video platforms, counting over a half a billion users.
Alibaba reported strong earnings last month, beating Wall Street expectations as its revenue jumped 32% to $3.5 billion.