Wanda, Tencent, and Baidu are teaming up to take on Alibaba

Three billionaires from China’s property and Internet industries are forming an online shopping venture to challenge Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as it heads toward what may be the biggest initial offering in the US. Wanda, China’s biggest commercial land developer, is joining with Tencent and Baidu to form the 5 billion yuan ($813 million) venture. Wanda will have a 70 percent stake while the other two companies will own 15 percent each, Wanda said in a statement.

Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Baidu are teaming up with conglomerate Wanda to form an RMB 5 billion (about $814 million) e-commerce joint venture in a bid to challenge Alibaba’s dominance. Wanda, a real estate and movie theater chain group, will hold a 70 percent stake, while Tencent and Baidu will each hold 15 percent. The companies are competing for a bigger slice of China’s e-commerce market, which is the largest in the world and still growing rapidly. According to iResearch, online retail sales in China will grow 45.8 percent to RMB 2.76 trillion (about $446.6 billion) this year. A PricewaterhouseCoopers poll showed that one in seven Chinese shop online at least once per day. The partnership will promote Tencent’s online payment platforms, including TenPay and Weixin Payment, which are competitors to Alibaba products like Alipay. TenPay and Weixin Payment will now be the preferred payment method for transactions across all of Wanda’s businesses, including its movie theaters. Tencent will also benefit from having access to movie, TV, and online dramas that Wanda owns.