Naspers’ associate, Tencent and JD.com has agreed to invest about $1.3billion in Chinese auto information website operator, Bitauto Holdings Ltd.; so says Bitauto.
Bitauto also revealed that China’s No. 2 e-commerce company, JD.com and Tencent, best known for its communications app WeChat, will also invest a total of $250 million in Bitauto unit, YiXin Capital Ltd.
…The three companies will work together to provide enhanced online automotive transaction services to car buyers across China,” Bitauto said.
According to Reuters; the two companies will invest about $1.15 billion in new shares priced at $73.31 each. Each share represents one ADR.
JD.com will invest $400 million in cash and about $750 million in resources to Bitauto, whose sites offer sales data and other information on new and used vehicles as well as customer reviews. Tencent will pay $150 million for its shares.
Tencent and JD.com will buy YiXin Capital series A preferred shares for $150 million and $100 million respectively.
JD.com and Tencent will hold 25 percent and 3.3 percent of Bitauto’s outstanding shares respectively after the deal closes in the first half of 2015. JD.com will also get one seat on Bitauto’s board.
The two companies will hold 17.7 percent and 26.6 percent of YiXin Capital respectively.
“As China’s leaders in world-class e-commerce, social media and big data, we could not ask for partners more ideally positioned to support Bitauto than JD.com and Tencent as we build out China’s leading platform for automotive e-commerce,” said William Bin Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bitauto. “We are deeply honored to form an in-depth strategic partnership with these two companies. In the months ahead, we will aggressively invest to solidify Bitauto’s industry leadership and build market share. We are confident about the outlook of our automotive e-commerce business. Our goal has always been to provide China’s new and used car customers with the best possible car purchasing experience.”
Mr. Richard Liu, founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JD.com, commented, “This landmark deal will bolster Bitauto’s position as China’s leader in the auto e-commerce space, while providing JD.com customers an outstanding gateway to the car market. This investment is a major step forward in our long-term strategy of partnering with industry leaders in the vertical categories most important to our customers. Through strategic partnerships with trusted companies like Bitauto and Tencent, we are building our vision of making JD.com a one-stop solution for Chinese consumers looking to buy authentic, high-quality products.”
Mr. Martin Lau, President of Tencent, added “With the pooled auto e-commerce resources of Bitauto and JD.com and our extensive user base and analytics and auto-related media assets, we collectively can build an efficient online platform to facilitate online automotive transactions and provide one-stop financing solutions to auto buyers in China. We look forward to collaborating with them to better serve users and expand our catalogue of online-to-offline service offerings.”
Bitauto’s shares were up 7.6 percent at $90.10 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of JD.com and Tencent were little changed.
