Alibaba joins Groupon
The Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba has become a major shareholder in the deal-sharing site Groupon.
Alibaba held a stake of just over five percent at the end of last year, according to information filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the weekend. A Groupon spokesperson told the financial service Bloomberg that the discount coupon specialist only found out about Alibaba's stake from the announcement. At Groupon, restaurants, service providers and other businesses can offer discount coupons to attract customers. In addition, Groupon itself sells goods at a discount. The company grew rapidly in the first few years, but a hasty international expansion then resulted in high losses. Last September, Groupon announced in the USA that 1100 of its estimated 12,000 employees worldwide would be made redundant. The provider also announced its intention to withdraw from seven countries. Groupon has now also discontinued its service in Switzerland. (SDA)
