China Branch Of eBay Getting Bought Out?

Internet
auctioneer eBay Inc may sell its China operation because of strong competition
from Chinese rivals.

Tom Group, the media group controlled by Hong Kong
billionaire Li Ka-shing, may take over eBay Eachnet and its online payment
service, PayPal’s China division, media reports said yesterday.

    Analysts said it was unlikely that eBay would
withdraw from the China market, but it was possible that eBay would retain some
stake in its China division while seeking a Chinese partner.

    Neither of the two companies denied the report
yesterday.

    ”We have no comment on this report now,” said Liu
Wei, director of public relations with Shanghai-registered eBay Eachnet.

    The 21st Century Business Herald reported that Hong
Kong-listed Tom Group would announce its takeover of eBay’s China division and
its PayPal service within a few days, citing a well-informed source. An
agreement between the two companies had already been signed, it said.

    Lee Shuk Wen, an official from Tom Group, said they
were “open to the business opportunities on mainland but have no details to
disclose at present.”

    eBay bought one-third of Eachnet’s stake for 30
million U.S. dollars in 2002. It spent another 150 million dollars on the
remaining shares of Eachnet in 2003.

    But shortly after that, eBay Eachnet’s share in the
consumer-to-consumer market went down under competition from taobao.com.

    Taobao.com attracted customers from eBay Eachnet with
its free online trading platform, while Eachnet collected a commission of up to
8 yuan (1 dollar) for each item sold on its site.

Xinhua - English