Suning confirms acquisition of group-buying site manzuo.com

Home appliance retailer Suning Commerce Group Co confirmed Tuesday that it has purchased group-buying website manzuo.com in a new move to expand its Internet presence.

In a note sent to the Global Times, the retailer said manzuo.com will be run under its flag as part of its group-buying and tourism department following the acquisition, and the deal is expected to be finished by the end of March this year.

The company did not disclose the transaction fees, but the Beijing News reported Tuesday that the purchasing price is nearly $10 million.

Manzuo.com, which was among the first batch of group-buying websites established in 2010, attracted more than 10 million registered users by the end of 2011, covering more than 110 cities across the nation, according to the latest information provided on its website.

Suning said that the acquisition will enhance the local services development, and promote the further cooperation of online and offline businesses. The two sides will share the purchasing and marketing resources.

"Suning has a big development picture," Ding Jiaqi, an analyst from Beijing-based market research firm iResearch, told the Global Times Tuesday. "This deal is complementary to its online business, and also in line with e-commerce development."

It is not the first time that Suning has diversified its business.

In September 2012, Suning purchased one of the nation's largest maternal and infant goods e-commerce websites Redbaby for $66 million. In October last year, Suning invested $250 million to buy 44 percent of stocks in the video website pptv.com to foray into the online video sector.

In August last year, Suning applied for a license to set up private banks. Earlier this month, Suning launched its first investment service named Lingqianbao, which means "pocket money treasure," expanding to China's emerging Internet finance sector.

However, insiders warned that Suning needs to cooperate well with the different companies it has purchased as the company is based on traditional home appliance retailing, compared with its rivals such as Alibaba, jd.com and Tencent that have a strong foundation in Internet business.