Rumor: Baidu Interested in Buying Aibang

TechWeb yesterday reported quite an interesting rumor: Baidu is interested in buying the commerce search and group buy company Aibang. Aibang representatives declined to give TechWeb a comment on the matter, and Baidu representatives declined to comment as well when approached by Tech in Asia, so nothing has been confirmed, but on the other hand, nothing has been denied, either. Hmm.

The rumor began when DXY CTO Feng Dahui mentioned on his WeChat account that he had heard through the grapevine that Baidu was interested in buying Aibang. TechWeb’s sources have apparently suggested that the tech giant is mostly interested in Aibang’s mobile app, and that Aibang could be worth as much as $100 million.

There are admittedly a lot of questions worth raising about this deal, the biggest of which being whether or not it’s actually happening at all. But Baidu being interested in Aibang would certainly make sense as the company’s commerce-and-service-focused search features would be a great complement to Baidu’s own web search service, and acquiring and perhaps integrating its mobile app would give Baidu a stronger foothold in the mobile realm, which is increasingly becoming an important battleground for search companies. It would seem to be a bit similar to Baidu’s $306 million investment in Qunar, the travel search and services company.

Then again, though, Baidu could be looking to spend its money outside the country, as it has $1.5 billion set aside for overseas acquisitions and has some choice targets to choose from.

(via TechWeb)