Alibaba to sell U.S.-based 11 Main for 37.6 pct stake in OpenSky: report

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA.NYSE) planned to sell its US-based E-commerce business unit – 11 Main to exchange for a 37.6 percent stake in online marketplace – OpenSky, reported Xinhua-run cnstock.com Tuesday.

According to the Chinese E-commerce giant, 11 Main’s management staff will join OpenSky but the former will still keep its own website after the deal, whose financial terms are not disclosed yet.

Alibaba launched 11 Main in June 2014. However, the website failed to attract wide attention and attain sufficient support from Alibaba Group, said the report citing a source saying 11 Main might only be Alibaba’s one attempt to test the US market.

Alibaba finished its initial public offering (IPO) in the US in 2014. Currently, most of its revenue comes from domestic B2C E-commerce platforms – Taobao.com and Tmall.com.

Previously, an executive of Alibaba said the company’s overseas strategies would focus on helping foreign merchants and brand operators to sell their goods to Chinese consumers.

Apart from 11 Main, Alibaba invested a lot in the United States. In March, it invested 200 million US dollars in US photo messaging application – Snapchat. Enditem