Alibaba assumes control of VC-backed online ticket platform
Alibaba Group has taken full ownership of Damai.cn, a leading Chinese online ticketing platform that previously raised funding from VC investors.
Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Yu Zhang, vice president at Alibaba and secretary at Alibaba Culture & Entertainment Group, will become CEO of Damai.cn.
“Following the acquisition of Damai.cn, we will further enhance our offline capability, expanding our user reach and engagement. It will help us provide high quality media content and one-stop services to consumers,” Rongfu Yu, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Culture & Entertainment Group, said in a statement posted on the company's Sino Weibo microblog.
Operated by Beijing Pony Media Culture Development, Damai.cn was launched in 2004. It provides online ticketing services for concerts, sporting events, live theater, movies and other events. The companys' services cover 330 cities globally and it had sold tickets for over 1.8 million events as of the end of last year. The company operates 46 regional offices in China.
According to AVCJ Research, Damai.cn raised a RMB30 million ($4 million) Series A round from Legend Capital in 2005, and a RMB100 million Series B round from SIG China and Legend in 2010. Alibaba made a strategic investment in Damai.cn in 2014, reportedly acquiring a 32.44% stake.
Last year, Damai.cn formed a partnership with Alibaba’s movie and entertainment unit Alibaba Pictures, allowing consumers to purchase tickets through Damai.cn by using Taobao Movie and Alipay mobile apps. In addition, Damai.cn and Taobao Movie agreed to work on marketing campaigns for films and television products.
Taobao Movie is Alibaba Picture’s online movie ticketing unit. In May last year, it raised a RMB1.7 billion ($260 million) Series A round from CDH Investment’s wealth management platform, Ant Financial Services and Sina Corp.
The e-commerce giant created Alibaba Culture & Entertainment Group in October last year, consolidating online video platform Youku Tudou, online browser UCWeb, Alibaba Pictures, Alibaba Music, Alibaba Sports, Alibaba Games, Alibaba Literature and Alibaba Digital Entertainment under a single umbrella.
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