Baidu buys control of Brazilian online discounter Peixe Urbano
Baidu has bought control of Brazilian online-discount company Peixe Urbano for an undisclosed sum, the latest step in a push to expand in Latin America’s largest economy.
China’s Baidu, the world’s No 2 internet search engine, has bought control of Brazilian online-discount company Peixe Urbano for an undisclosed sum, the latest step in a push to expand in Latin America’s largest economy.
Under terms of the transaction, which were announced in a statement on Thursday, Baidu will let Peixe Urbano’s management team, led by co-founder and chief executive Julio Vasconcellos, operate autonomously within Baidu’s corporate structure.
Both firms declined to give the size of Baidu’s stake in Peixe Urbano. The search giant started operations in Brazil in November, although in July 2012 it introduced a Portuguese-language version of its Hao123 link-list website.
Baidu chief executive Robin Li, who accompanied President Xi Jinping on a visit to Brazil in July, pledged during the visit that the company would spend 120 million reais (HK$387 million) in Brazil over the next three years.
International expansion is a priority for Baidu and, as part of that strategy, Brazil stands out as a key market
The purchase of Peixe Urbano’s controlling stake will help Baidu expand in a country where the e-commerce market is expected to grow an average 18 per cent annually by 2016, according to several consulting firms including E-bit and A.T. Kearney.