eBay enters joint venture to launch a marketplace in Taiwan
The world’s largest e-marketplace operator is expanding in Southeast Asia, where eBay Inc. and e-mall PChome Online have formed a joint venture to launch a co-branded e-commerce site for buyers and sellers in Taiwan.
The eBay-PChome venture will specialize in online auctions but also offer the ability to buy and sell at a fixed price, the two companies said. While eBay and PChome share best practices in developing new e-commerce features for the Taiwan Internet-based trading market, the new site will replace both the eBay Taiwan site and PChome Online’s auction site. It will be managed locally by PChome Online, which is also the local partner of Skype, eBay’s online voice communications unit.
"PChome Online is the right partner to help us transform online shopping in Taiwan,” said Matt Bannick, president of eBay International. “We look forward to working together for the benefit of our local communities of users."
EBay said it does not expect the joint venture to have a material effect on eBay’s 2006 revenue and earnings. The joint venture agreement is subject to closing conditions and is expected to be finalized by the end of this year, eBay said.
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