Alibaba invests $100 mln in luxury-focused Mei.com

Alibaba Group Holding Limited has made an undisclosed investment in Chinese flash sales platform Mei.com as part of a strategic cooperation between the two parties, according to a company announcement.

Alibaba said it will integrate resources from its B2C platform Tmall.com “to form a specialized services team to support Mei.com’s development and assist them in growing their user base, brand cooperation base, logistic services and IT infrastructure services”.

Mei.com’s wide range of luxury brands including Armani, Zegna, Michael Kors, Trussardi, Roger Vivier, Longchamp, Tumi, and Guerlain will complement Tmall.com’s existing selection of luxury goods for Chinese consumers. JP Morgan maintains its rating on Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA). Such an investment indicates that Daniel Zhang’s main focus is to get its e-commerce business back on track, apart from all other avenues that Alibaba has recently entered.

The company, which dominates China’s online shopping market, has been trying to beef up its luxury offerings by attracting more high-end brands to its Tmall.com online shopping mall.

Image: Alibaba Group’s corporate campus in China. Similar to Tmall.com, Mei.com cooperates directly with global brands or official designated brand distributors and has successfully cooperated with more than 2,400 brands across the world.

Sell-side Wall Street analysts are anticipating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) will post a current quarter earnings per share of $0.44. The Company operates Taobao Marketplace, Chinas online shopping destination, Tmall, Chinas third-party platform for brands and retailers and Juhuasuan, Chinas group buying marketplace.

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) ended Wednesday session in red amid volatile trading.