Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has reportedly bought a stake in digital advertising platform AdChina, becoming the majority shareholder in the company.
Alibaba has not disclosed the terms of the deal.
Reuters cited a statement by Alibaba as saying: "Alibaba’s strategic stake is expected to allow AdChina to enhance its competitive strengths in its existing businesses."
AdChina previously generated $51m in sales in 2011, with the company filing a $100m IPO in 2012 but withdrawing it in 2013.
AdChina runs a supply-side platform that sells ad space and a demand-side platform for those wishing to buy ad space. It places ads in both websites and mobile apps.
AdChina reached over 80% of China’s mobile internet users and was integrated with more than 60,000 mobile apps, reported Tech in Asia.
The company is expected to help Alibaba in improving its online and mobile advertising efforts by working with Alibaba’s marketing and cloud computing units Alimama and Aliyun.
Together with Alimama and Aliyun, AdChina is expected to work on an end-to-end marketing service which is expected to help the e-commerce giant to increase brand-building and sales integration used by Alibaba’s merchants.
