Tencent, 58.com partner up

Tencent Holdings, China's largest Internet company by market share, announced Friday that it is buying a 19.9 percent stake in the Chinese online marketplace 58.com Inc for $736 million, an important move analysts said for Tencent to promote its online-to-offline (O2O) connection of businesses.

Unlike the traditionally separate business models of off-line shopping and e-commerce, O2O is a new model that makes online payment a necessary step in a wide range of off-line services.

Yao Jinbo, founder and Chief Executive Officer of 58.com, confirmed on his Sina Weibo late Friday that the strategic cooperation project was completed within 10 days without disclosing further information.