Wanda links with Tencent and Baidu in 5b yuan e-commerce venture

Privately held Dalian Wanda Group is set to launch a 5 billion yuan (HK$6.2 billion) e-commerce joint venture with internet giants Tencent and Baidu, according to two sources familiar with the investment.

The e-commerce venture, which will be 70 per cent owned by Wanda and 15 per cent held each by Tencent and Baidu, is set to be announced this week, the people said.

The venture will unite three of China's most powerful non-state companies. For Wanda, the tie-up with Tencent and Baidu opens the door to new opportunities in the world's biggest e-commerce market as the rise of smartphones creates new business opportunities.

Wanda is a commercial property, luxury hotel and film conglomerate controlled by Wang Jianlin, the mainland's wealthiest person with a net worth of US$16 billion, according to Forbes.

Wanda, which bought US-cinema operator AMC Entertainment in 2012, operates 83 department stores in major cities throughout China. Shenzhen-based Tencent, a social media and video games mammoth, is China's biggest listed internet firm with a market capitalisation of US$156 billion. Beijing-based Baidu is China's dominant search engine provider.

In July, Wang said Wanda was planning a 50 billion yuan e-commerce business without disclosing who the other investors would be.