Alibaba aggressively invests in companies, sets a new $200 million plan

According to the latest reports from the Wall Street Journal Chinese ecommerce leader Alibaba Group is going to spend as much as $200 million in acquisitions and other investments in the next few years. To date the company based in Hangzhou has spent $73 million to invest in 10 companies including a mobile-phone software company called UCWEB Technology Ltd., said Wei Zhang, who is heading Alibaba's strategic investment unit.

Now the company has committed an additional $200 million to $300 million to the unit over the next two to three years. The new investment plan is in line with Alibaba’s aggressive activity in defiance of the current economy downturn.

Additionally Alibaba has also committed $30 million to marketing one of its Web sites, and plans to expand its work force by over 40% to 17,000, even as other companies have had to cut staff to save on costs.

According to Ms. Zhang investments made by Alibaba will be focused on companies specializing in mobile Internet, electronic payment and other technologies. In most cases, the group plans to retain a minority stake and investees' companies it invests in would double as strategic partners for Alibaba. The company says these minority investments do not imply Alibaba’s participation in the management of those companies.

"We felt that it's important for us to have an investment operation where we look at new technologies," said Joe Tsai, the group's chief financial officer. Alibaba "has over $1 billion in cash, not including the listed company … we are looking for opportunities that would complement our core business."

Up to these days Alibaba has been investing into the companies located in mainland China, including classified-ads Web site Koubei.com, which is now wholly owned by Alibaba. But Ms. Zhang says she is currently in talks with companies outside China and plans to look at opportunities around the world.