A caricature of Alibaba founder Jack Ma tapping into the film industry with Alibaba Pictures. (Photo/CFP)
Alibaba Group entered the film industry last year, having acquired ChinaVision Media Group and renamed it Alibaba Pictures Group and other related companies.
On April 21, Alibaba Pictures announced it was acquiring Guangdong Yueke Software Engineering Company, a supplier of a cinema-ticketing system, through an open bidding for 830 million yuan (US$134 million), Guangzhou’s 21st Century Business Herald reports.
Alibaba’s recent moves suggest that it has been trying to explore a new direction based on cloud computing and big data management, in a bid to replace the traditional low-efficiency information technology system
Yueke Software’s 100% stake was previously on sale at Southern United Assets and Equity Exchange and the listed price was CNY180 million. Alibaba finally won the bidding for CNY830 million in cash.
Yueke Software’s core businesses include movie ticket sales management, chain management, an e-ticket platform, mobile ticketing applications, third-party e-commerce platform access, and automatic display systems. Yueke Software has provided services to over 30 third-party cinema e-commerce operators in China.
