By Wang Shen
The Wanda Group announced on Wednesday that it would establish a joint venture network technology company with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Gaopeng.com.
This joint venture will create a leading world-class new consumption model for integrating the online and offline retail buisnesses. The Commercial Management Group will hold 51 percent shares in the new company, Tencent will hold 42.48 percent, and Gaopeng will keep the remaining 6.52 percent.
The chairman of the new joint venture will be Qi Jie, the president of the Wanda Commercial Management Group, and the CEO will be Gao Xia, the CEO of Gaopeng.com, as recommended by Tencent.
Ffan.com and some of the Wanda Internet Technology Company’s businesses will be integrated into the new company. Tencent will provide high-quality resources, including online traffic, and Gaopeng.com will provide businesses including electronic invoicing and so forth.
The cooperation of the three companies aims at integrating their resources and competitive advantages. Wanda will receive substantial online traffic through WeChat launched by Tencent, upgrade the Wanda Plaza, build a robust membership system and improve its commercial value. Tencent will gain large offline flows of traffic, achieve the implementation of streams and technology, and accelerate its strategy of “intelligence retail.” Gaopeng.com will increase the number of its businesses and orders to strengthen its leading position in the industry.
An insider revealed that the three companies might invest over RMB 5 billion in the joint venture. But these companies have not confirmed this information.
An expert stated that the integration of the online and offline businesses has become a trend in the global retail industry. In the U.S., there is competition between the online Amazon and offline Walmart organisations. In China, there is intense competition between two large online companies, Alibaba and Tencent. This joint venture will be an essential move for Tencent to take in dealing with the competition.
